PEEP OUT YOUR window and you might be able to spot a supermoon.
The stunning lunar event will happen twice this month, although tonight’s will be slightly closer to Earth than the next on January 30.
A supermoon is when a full moon takes place at the satellite’s perigee – the point in its orbit where it is closest to Earth. It appears brighter and larger – something hard to spot with the naked eye – than normal.
This evening the moon will reach its closest point to Earth, some 356,565 km, shortly before 10pm, and become full around 2.30am.
The last time it was this close was November 2016, and we will have to wait until February 2019 for the next one.
However, the second taking place this month will be an even rarer event, known as a Blue Moon. This is the term given to the second of two full moons taking place in one month.
On top of this a lunar eclipse will be visible at the same time, meaning it will be a rare chance to see a red Blue Moon.
You won’t be able to spot this from western Europe. Asia and North American will get the best views.
A supermoon was also visible in the skies last month on December 3.
A recent study found a connection between fatal road crashes and full moons, with supermoons in particular standing out, Quartz reports.
The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, found that there were 8.64 fatal motorcycle crashes on a normal night, but this rose to 9.1 during a full moon and 10.82 during a supermoon.
If you get any snaps of tonight’s supermoon, send them to picutres@thejournal.ie
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