Tamworth astronomy club invites public to witness rare blue supermoon

The blue supermoon will light up the night sky on Wednesday, August 30, and Thursday, August 31, and when it comes to the best way of seeing it, the local astronomy club has you covered.

"We enjoy looking at the moon, especially through our big telescope. The craters come out really awesome on it," President of the Tamworth Regional Astronomy Club Garry Copper said.

The 'blue' moon doesn't mean it will actually appear blue, rather it refers to the phenomenon of two full moons occurring in the same calendar month.

"That occurs because the moon orbits us in about 27 and a third days and our month is about 30, 31 days long, so basically we catch up to the moon twice usually about twice per year," Mr Copper said.

The reason this particular blue moon is rare is because it's happening at the same time as another somewhat uncommon lunar phenomenon: the supermoon.

READ ALSO:

Scientifically known as perigee syzygy, a supermoon occurs when the moon's orbit brings it a bit closer to Earth than usual; the distance between the two can vary by up to about 40,000km.

The overlapping of these two events is great timing to get a full appreciation of the moon's beauty, and won't happen again until 2029.

Speaking of great timing, the second night of the blue supermoon, Thursday August 31, just so happens to fall on the club's regular bi-weekly public telescope viewing from 5pm to 11pm at the Tamworth Astronomy and Science Centre in North Tamworth.

Mr Copper says locals can get some "very nice views" of the moon's craters through the observatory's 250 millimetre Dobsonian telescope.

"The only problem is our weather forecast isn't looking too good, it's full cloud tonight [August 30] and part cloud tomorrow night [August 31], so hopefully we'll get a good view tomorrow night," Mr Copper said.

But the club president also said you don't have to go far to enjoy the moon.

"You can see it from anywhere. Stand in the middle of your backyard and look up," Mr Copper said.

He said the best time to see the moon from your yard is in the early evening, right as it rises from the east, as the perspective of it climbing over the horizon makes it seem even bigger to the naked eye.

If seeing the blue supermoon from your backyard inspires a love of the cosmos, the astronomy club will also have its weekly open day on Saturday, September 2, for the public to explore the Tamworth Astronomy and Science Centre.

Tamworth Regional Astronomy Club also has its monthly meeting on the same Saturday night for anyone looking to get involved.

The blue supermoon moon will rise over Tamworth at 4:37pm on Wednesday, August 30, and 5:51pm on Thursday, August 31.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: