Clear skies forecast for Hong Kong’s supermoon
The rare occurrence will be visible from about 5.30pm on Sunday
Hongkongers hoping to view the “supermoon” on Sunday night will be blessed with clear skies in which to marvel at the celestial spectacle, according to the Observatory.
“It will be mainly fine [on Sunday] with few clouds,” said Chong Sze-ning, scientific officer of the Observatory. “The full moon can be seen in most places as long as it is not blocked by tall buildings.”
Chong said supermoons happen when the moon is closer than usual to Earth and appears at least 7 per cent bigger than usual. On Sunday the moon will be the closest it will get to Earth this year.
Chong said the full moon would be visible from 5.33pm on Sunday to 7.04am on Monday, and reach its highest point in the sky at about midnight.
The distances between the Earth and the moon for the largest 100 supermoons from 1901 to 2050 range from 356,000km to 357,000km, compared with about 383,000km on normal days.
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The temperature on Sunday was forecast to range from 18 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees. It is expected to get colder from Wednesday, when the temperature will drop to a minimum of 16 degrees.