Supermoon v the clouds

Sydney has not been doing a great job of providing clear skies of late – although there was a fine view of the International Space Station last night. Tonight’s the night though – the supermoon rising… and the forecast is for showers.

The supermoon for those who’ve been not reading the news in the wake of Trump’s election is the closest the Moon has been to the Earth in 70 years, and it’ll be 18 years until it’s this close again. That means it will look big – although the reality is that it wont be perceivably bigger than some of the other supermoons we have had and will have.

Best viewing will be looking East over the Ocean at moon-rise – which in Sydney is just after 7:00pm.  You can see the moon later but it will look about 15% bigger as it comes over the horizon.

OK so the material bit, the forecast for this evening is for showers and showers mean clouds.  The good news is that there’s every chance there will be scattered cloud so we’ll get that atmospheric look rather than a completely obstructed view.

And if the weather really lets us down, Tuesday’s viewing will be pretty much as good (just not technically); and Tuesday is a full Moon for added effect.