��һ�ǿ�����

Stargazers are about to be treated to a blue supermoon: a rare lunar spectacle that won’t be seen again in New Zealand’s night skies for nearly a decade.��

The rare display, appearing on Thursday, will be the biggest and brightest moon of any this year – and also the second super full moon to appear in a single calendar month.��

While a blue moon occurred once every two to three years, one that coincided with a supermoon was rarer.��

The last blue supermoon was in 2009, and the next wasn’t due until 2032.��

A supermoon looms over Auckland on August 12 last year. Photo / Brett Phibbs��

A supermoon was when a full moon happened near the lunar body’s closest point to Earth in its orbit, making it appear brighter and larger than average.��

“Supermoons look about 8 per cent bigger and about 16 per cent brighter than an average full moon,” Stardome astronomer Rob Davison said.��

“A blue supermoon is a lovely quirk of our calendar, which means we’re seeing two of these bigger and brighter moons in the same month.”��

The moon’s orbit was slightly elongated, meaning its distance from Earth ranged between about 364,000km and 404,000km, although variances could bring it a little closer or farther away.��

Typically, only two to three full moons qualified as a supermoon each year – and this month’s first happened overnight on August 1.��

But the end-of-August supermoon would be the biggest and brightest of the year, because the moon would be more than 27,000km closer to Earth than its average distance of 384,000km.��

“The super blue moon will rise towards the east as the sun sets towards the west, and will be visible in the sky for the whole night,” Davison said.��

“If it’s a clear night, people will be able to see it from all over the country.”��

MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said Thursday night’s prospects for moon-viewing looked more positive than tomorrow’s.��

“While there’ll be some cloud around and a few showers north of Auckland, Auckland itself shouldn’t be too bad and will have some fairly clear skies,” she said.��

MetService was also forecasting plenty of clouds for central parts of the North Island, with skies likely to be clearer on the coasts.��

“And the South Island is pretty similar, with a lot of cloud along the West Coast and around Nelson that night – but hopefully, it should be lovely in eastern regions.”��