The supermoon strikes again.
Stargazers will get yet another opportunity to watch a spectacular full moon rise over the horizon on Tuesday night, when the last of three consecutive supermoons of 2016 is due to make a stunning appearance.
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2016 'supermoon' time lapse
Time lapse vision shows the ascent of the so-called supermoon from the Royal National Park in Sydney (no audio). Vision courtesy of Hannah Anderson.
While last month's highly anticipated supermoon left some disappointed when clouds largely obscured the event, Tuesday night's conditions are forecast to be mostly clear and hot in Sydney, where the temperature is still expected to be hovering around 30 degrees when the sun sets.
Melburnians, however, will have to contend with some cloud cover at sunset, according to Weatherzone.
A so-called supermoon - technically called a perigee moon - occurs when the moon is not only full, but is orbiting close to Earth.
The December full moon will be the third consecutive supermoon of the year, and will also coincide with the Geminid Meteor Shower, the annual event that sends a flurry of shooting stars across the sky. It occurs as the Earth ploughs through one of the densest debris fields in our orbit around the sun.
The brightness of the moon, however, is expected to largely "wipe out the view" of the meteor shower, NASA says.
"Bright moonlight will reduce the visibility of faint meteors five to ten fold, transforming the usually fantastic Geminids into an astronomical footnote," NASA said in a statement.
![The moon rises in Bondi, Sydney, on November 15, a day after the official supermoon was obscured by clouds.](/web/20161216034904im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/r/x/b/i/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gt9ntr.png/1481677679120.jpg)
"Sky watchers will be lucky to see a dozen Geminids per hour when the shower peaks. Oh well, at least the moon will be remarkable."
Perry Vlahos, the vice-president of the Astronomical Society of Victoria, said the moon would be closest to Earth at 9am on Tuesday AEDT, when it would be 358,463 kilometres away.
Last month's full moon was the closest to Earth since January 26, 1948, but Mr Vlahos said anyone watching Tuesday night's moon rise with the naked eye would probably not notice any difference between the two events. The difference in distance of the moon's proximity to earth would only be several hundred kilometres, which was "almost imperceptible" to the human eye, he said.
The moonrise would be just as spectacular again on Wednesday night, he said.
That was the case last month, when a massive moon stunned stargazers the night after clouds had obscured the supermoon when it was closer to Earth.
"To my mind, a moonrise always looks fantastic during a full moon," Mr Vlahos said.
Mr Vlahos said the meteor shower would probably peak early on Wednesday morning, and could even extend into Thursday morning.
"This year, because of the moon, it's [the meteor shower is] not going to be as spectacular as other years. It's a little bit like natural light pollution," he said.
"I wouldn't bother going out into the country or anything like that to get away from the city lights. With the full moon, it's going to be the same everywhere, whether you observe from the suburbs or in the country."
He estimated no more than 10-15 shooting stars would be visible per hour at the Geminids' peak this year.
In Sydney on Tuesday, the sun is due to set at 8.01pm, when it is still expected to be 30 degrees and conditions mostly clear, according to Weatherzone.
In Melbourne, the sun is due to set at 8.37pm on Tuesday, when it will be an expected 28 degrees, although conditions there are expected to be cloudy.
Mr Vlahos advised those wishing to get the best view of the moonrise to head at dusk to an east-facing beach, or to the top of a hill or mountain with uninterrupted views to the east.
Weatherzone is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website.