Another Supermoon Is Due Tonight & And This Time You Might Actually See It

YIEW who’s ready to blame all your crabby moods on a giant celestial jerk one last time this year?!
We’ve already had two supermoons grace us with their orbiting presence in 2016, and the third and final one is set to peek its craterface into the night sky *tonight*.
The last supermoon of the year, where the full moon sneaks a little closer to the Earth than usual, is due when the sun goes down, and in good news for head-tilters you might actually get a shot at copping a squiz at it this time around.
When the last supermoon hit back in mid-November, a pesky band of cloud hindered the view for much of the eastern states. But this time around? It’s clear skies for all.
The unusual heatwave currently walloping Sydney and Brisbane will see the skies open up for the moon, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting clear skies for the bulk of the night. It’s slightest less good news for Melbourne, who despite also being quite warm today, is expected to cop some light cloud coverage at around sunset.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is the big bastard moon’s arrival will impede the arrival of another spectacular celestial show. The annual Geminid Meteor Shower is currently active and is predicted to reach its peak activity over the next 24 hours or so. NASA reckons the increased amount of light from that prick of a moon will hamper the visibility of the meteors, in some cases by as much as five-to-ten fold.

“Bright moonlight will reduce the visibility of faint meteors five to ten fold, transforming the usually fantastic Geminids into an astronomical footnote. Sky watchers will be lucky to see a dozen Geminids per hour when the shower peaks.”


Cheers, you lunar gronk. Thanks a whole bloody lot.

But that aside, the moon will be showing off all its glorious bigness tonight, and if you believe in this sort of thing you’ll also have a convenient excuse to pin being a grump on.
That’s a win/win as far as I’m concerned.
Source: News.com.au.

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