IRISH stargazers have the last chance to capture the "extremely rare" blue supermoon in the skies tonight. The lunar event will end in the skies above Ireland tonight, and we have some tips for you to prepare for the supermoon - including the best time to see it and tips on how to capture the phenomenon. The blue supermoon is "extremely rare", hence the saying, "once in a blue moon".
It will appear against the backdrop of an exaggerated red sunset. NASA stated that "it will not look blue", the term "blue moon" was first recorded of use in English dates from 1528 - some 496 years ago. And there might be a chance to capture the minor meteor showers during the night if lucky, NASA has revealed.
The super moon happens when the Moon's orbit is closest to Earth at the same time when the moon is completely illuminated by the sun's rays. And when there are two full moons in one month, the second full moon is usually called a blue moon. Experts warn that this phenomenon is so rare that it will not happen again until 2032.
This means if you miss the incredible lunar event tonight, you will have to wait almost a decade to see it happen again. Astronomy Ireland has explained that the moon's distance from the Earth can vary by 15 per cent, causing the moon to illuminate brighter. When the moon is nearer to Earth , it's known as a super moon, which can cause a 30 per cent change in brightness.
And there will be four supermoons left to see this year, with Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon, Beaver Moon and Cold Moon left to come. The editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine, David Moore, said that "full moons at this time of year are extremely low in the sky". Talking on RTE's Morning Ireland yesterday, he said: "The full moon rising can often look much bigger than 30 per cent wider because of a moon illusion effect, so it certainly will be brighter than normal and it may even look extra large as well.
"And in the blue moon, that's a seasonal thing, there are normally 12 moons in a year - that's where we get the word month from - but there can be 13, and we have a season that squeezes four full moons in instead of three. "The third one is called the blue moon, because it's so rare, every two or three years or so, so we have a combination of super moon and blue moon tonight, making this all the more special. Mr Moore added: "Technically now we can define the exact instance of a full moon to the nearest minute or so, but the human eye will see the moon as full last night - I was looking at it myself - tonight, the official night, and tomorrow night.
"So we want people to take pictures of it rising near landscapes or interesting creative options and send them into Astronomy Ireland Magazine, you'll find details on our website astronomy.ie . "So we can record this very rare event - our next super blue moon by this definition of a blue moon won't be until 2032, so you've an eight-year wait.
" For 2024, these are the official names for the supermoon events: Mr Moore said the magazine is archived in the UK and Ireland so your pictures and even comments on what you see will be kept "for all time". And you don't need to be in a certain area of Ireland to witness the phenomenon; you can observe it from your garden as long as there are no clouds in the skies. For those in light-polluted areas of the cities, fear not; you are still able to see it as long as weather conditions are good.
As the supermoon will be seen for the last time tonight, Met Eireann is predicting a partially cloudy night, meaning some weather conditions may be affecting the visibility of the sight. For those who want advice to capture the beauty in full glory, here are some photography tips. People are encouraged to plan ahead and seek an area that is not exposed to light pollution.
Users with phones that support the night mode camera feature should turn it on, put it to the full max and hold still while capturing the supermoon. And for those that don't support the night mode camera, fear not; you can hold the camera screen to focus on the supermoon and slide down the exposure to help focus on the details of the moon. There won't be another lunar event until September when there will be a lunar eclipse and a Harvest Moon supermoon event.
The supermoons were named by the Native American tribes, with records revealing the distinctive names of each recurring full moon dating back a few hundred years ago..
