Pesky Perth supermoon to steal the limelight from meteor shower

The annual December Geminids meteor shower is going to have some competition Tuesday night.

Here are the projected cloud conditions, across Canada, for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. That’s about half as fast as the Perseid and Leonid meteor showers move, which means you may have an easier time seeing a few Geminids, despite the moon trying to take the spotlight this year.

The moon reaches that special position in the sky this week, when it is not only full, but very close to Earth.

Hey so remember that supermoon last month that no-one could see because it was way too cloudy? We won’t see a closer full moon until November 25, 2034. Though you wouldn’t notice a difference between tomorrow’s supermoon and the November 14 supermoon, the penultimate 2016 supermoon was the largest since 1948.

A bonus is that we’re also now in the middle of the Geminids meteor shower, which will peak tonight and run into tomorrow.

If you want to photograph this event, people should aim to frame the moon against some physical object to get a perspective. This last super moon, though, will occur at the same time of the Geminid meteor shower, which will fade out most of the meteor’s visibility during the peak, according to AccuWeather. “That one you can begin any time of night because they come from the area of the Little Dipper”, meaning you don’t have to wait for that part of the night sky to rise later on he explains. But it hits its most bright and visible peak on the nights of 13 and 14 December, which are the same days that the moon will be at its fullest and closest. The Geminids are known to produce bolides, the long-lasting meteors more commonly called fireballs. However, they will peak during the pre-dawn hours.

In terms of appearance, supermoon or perigee full moon will look 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than an apogee full moon.

A dark sky is the best factor that can make your meteor watching experience memorable, try staying away from city lights.