First of two August supermoons will be visible tonight

The Sturgeon Moon rising behind the lighthouse in Ballycotton Bay, Co. Cork, last August. Picture: David Creedon

Keep your eyes on the skies as the first of two supermoons this month will be visible on Tuesday night.

Tuesday will offer the best chance to see the supermoon but it was also visible on Monday and will be again on Wednesday.

A supermoon occurs when a full moon is near its closest point to the Earth in its orbit.

When this happens, the moon appears slightly bigger in the sky, and is around 30% brighter.

On average, the moon is approximately 384,400km from Earth but a supermoon is around 357,264km away.

Astronomy Ireland's David Moore recommends keeping a watch at moonrise.

"The best time to watch is at moonrise, which is the same time the Sun sets, when a further effect, called The Moon Illusion kicks in which can make the moon look even bigger to the human eye/brain combination," he said.

On average, the moon is approximately 384,400km from Earth but a supermoon is around 357,264km away. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

According to Blackrock Castle Observatory's Frances McCarthy, moonrise tonight in Cork will be just after 10pm. 

She said: “We are going to have to wait for moonrise, which is late tonight in Cork, after 10pm.

"It will be a low moon, skimming across the southern horizon. At its highest, it’s only going to be about 10 degrees above the horizon, which is only about your hand width above the horizon.

Look for it just low and shimmery across the southern horizon, it’s going to be gorgeous but low.” 

Ms McCarthy believes that “people all over Cork will be able to see the supermoon,” but claims that views “south of the city, up the hill will be best.” 

“If you’re right down low next to the Lee, you’re going to have to be looking up to see it, and it might be tricky.

“I’m lucky, I live down in Cork Harbour, so I’m going to be looking over across to Ringaskiddy to see it coming up.

“Just think ‘where do I have my clearest southerly view?’ 

“I can’t see it from my house because I’ve got neighbours and I’ve got trees. So, I’m going to head down to the waterfront and look out over the harbour,” she said.

However, Ms McCarthy fears that cloud cover could spoil tonight’s show.

There’s always a possibility for cloud cover in Ireland, and certainly this summer it has been pretty bad.

“I hope it clears, but if it doesn’t, there is another supermoon at the end of the month,” she said.

Ms McCarthy believes “we’ve probably got more of a chance on August 31” as the moon “will be rising a little bit earlier and also a little higher in the sky.”

Tonight will see further rain spread across the country with mist and low cloud.

On Wednesday, the final night to see the supermoon, there will once again be some showers but there will be long clear spells as well.

There will be a blue moon in August as there will be a second full moon on August 30. As an added bonus, the second full moon of the month will also be a supermoon.

There will be a total of four supermoons this year with the fourth and final one gracing our skies on September 29 with the Harvest moon.

The August full moon is known as the Sturgeon moon because these fish were mostly caught by Native Americans in the Great Lakes at this time of year.

Ireland will also experience a huge shooting star display this year as a perseid meteor shower sweeps the skies, and an eclipse of the moon will be visible from here in October.