Marvellous moonlight

A rare triple moon event is about to happen for the first time in more than 150 years.

On Wednesday New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific and most of Asia will be able to see a supermoon - a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse simultaneously for the first time since 1866.

The triple celestial event is being called a ‘‘super blue blood moon eclipse’’.

The Stardome at One Tree Hill will host stargazers for the evening with an event running from 8pm on January 31 to 3am February 1.

Auckland Stardome educator Josh Kirkley said the blood red moon would be about 30 per cent brighter and 14 per cent bigger than usual.

The eclipse would happen gradually beginning at midnight and reaching its maximum at about 2.30am, Kirkley said.

‘‘It’ll look larger than most moons,’’ Kirkley said.

Because of the brightness and scale of the eclipse stargazers would be able to watch from One Tree Hill without needing a telescope, but the telescope would be available for use as well, Kirkley said.

Ian Griffin, a British astronomer who works as the director of Otago Museum in Dunedin, said he was excited about the lunar eclipse.

‘‘It’s the most amazing thing, it should be stunning,’’ Griffin said.

For stargazers, anywhere with a view of the moon in the northern sky would be fine as long as it wasn’t in the middle of Auckland, he said.

‘‘All you need is a deck chair and some binoculars.’’

A Metservice spokesperson said settled weather was moving over the country this weekend, which was good news for stargazers, but there was still a chance that things could change.

A supermoon is where a full moon coincides with the closest the moon gets to Earth during its orbit, Kirkley said.

A blue moon is when two full moons occur in a calendar month, and occurs about every two and a half years due to differences between calendar months and lunar phases, he said.

The blood moon occurs when the moon passes directly behind the Earth, into its shadow. The sun, Earth and moon need to be closely aligned - with the Earth in the middle - and it has to be a full moon.

If there’s cloud or rainy weather on January 31 a live stream provided by NASA will be used at the Stardome.

*The photographer boosted exposure in this photo of a supermoon, taken on December 3, meaning it would not necessarily appear like this to the naked eye.