Main pic: A Super moon captured over Raphoe last year by Kevin Shields.
Donegal stargazers will get a chance to see a ‘super blue moon’ over the coming nights – the first time it will be visible since 2009.
The rare sight, which can be seen tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday night, will not be visible over Irish skies again until 2037, according to Astronomy Ireland.
It says that roughly once every two or three years, there can be two full moons in one calendar month and, when this happens, the second full moon is popularly known as the blue moon.
The organisation adds that the moon’s distance from the Earth can vary by 15%, which causes a change in brightness of 30%.
When a full moon happens around the time that the moon is closest to Earth it is called a super moon, which usually occurs three times a year.
To have a blue moon occur at the same time that the full moon is a super moon is “exceedingly rare”, Astronomy Ireland told RTE News.
“As there are 12 full moons every year, that means there have been 168 full moons to give one super blue moon,” CEO David Moore added.
“Technically, the exact instant the moon is full is Wednesday night as seen from Ireland. However, to the naked eye ‘looks’ full the night before and after. This is great for us as it helps combat the Irish weather, so we are urging everyone to look east at sunset to watch the super blue moon rising directly opposite on the horizon where the sun sets.”
Mr Moore said that the ideal time to watch is just as the moon is rising.
From Ireland, he said, this happens tonight from 8.15pm, tomorrow from 8.35pm and Thursday from 8.50pm.
Frances McCarthy, Education and Outreach Officer at Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork, said that it is key to look towards an eastern clear horizon.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she said that people in the west of Ireland will witness it, as long as they are not on the side of a mountain, adding that all that is needed is a clear eastern horizon to see the moon rising.
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