The clouds have somewhat broken today to give Central Otago locals the chance to glance at the “supermoon”. 

The moon reached its closest point to New Zealand at about 3.30pm today, but will become visible firstly in the eastern parts of the country at about 5.30pm.

A full moon occurs about once a month when the sun and the moon are aligned on opposite sides of Earth, and its sunlit side is visible to people.

If a full moon occurs closer to the perigee – the closest point to Earth – it can appear bigger than if it occurs closer to the apogee – the farthest point.

According to Nasa, the term “supermoon” was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979, and refers to either a new or full moon that occurs when the moon is within 90% of perigee.

Tuesday's lunar event is the first of two supermoons in 2021. Although it is colloquially dubbed as a “pink” supermoon, it would not actually be pink.

The next full supermoons are due to appear on May 26, when the distance between Earth and the moon will be 357,462 km and on June 24, when the distance will be 361,558 km, according to website, earthsky.org.

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