Kiwis are getting a free show on Tuesday night as a rare pink supermoon lights up the skies.
Sadly, it's not actually pink in colour. The term is derived from a pink American flower that blooms around the same time the pink moon appears.
The full moon is the first of two supermoons for 2021, according to NASA's website.
The term "supermoon" was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 to describe both a new or full moon within 90 percent perigee - it's closest approach to earth.
"Since we can't see a new moon (except when it passes in front of the sun), what has caught the public's attention in recent decades are full supermoons," NASA's Gordon Johnston writes.
- Do you have any photos of the Pink Moon? Send them to news@newshub.co.nz
"The full moons in April and May are nearly tied as the closest full moons of the year."
The full moon in May will be slightly closer to the earth than the full moon in April, but only by a slim 0.04 percent.
Johnston adds these are the "biggest" and "brightest" full moons for the year.
