For the first time in 40 years, New Zealanders will be able to see the phenomenon that is the rare blood supermoon.

On Wednesday night, the moon will be at its closest point in its orbit around Earth, while coinciding with a lunar eclipse.

“For a supermoon to line up with a lunar eclipse, it is pretty rare,” Stardome’s astrophotographer and astronomy educator Josh Kirkley said.

The lunar eclipse is expected to last for five hours from 8.47pm on Wednesday, ending at 1.49am on Thursday.

The lunar eclipse, where the moon is completely hidden by the sun from Earth, will coincide with the moon's closest point of orbit at 11.11pm, for an expected duration of 14 minutes.

The combination of these factors – and the fact that it will be a full moon – will make the moon appear rusty red, and larger than usual.

Scattered clouds are expected on Wednesday night in Auckland, however the blood supermoon will still be visible.

“For a lot of astronomical events you have to be in certain locations but because the moon is really high in the sky and really bright, it can be easily seen in the city, even with light pollution.”

Kirkley said people can easily see the moon “virtually anywhere”.

Taking pictures of the astronomical event, Kirkley suggests using a DSLR rather than a smartphone to capture the blood supermoon.

“Many standard cameras come with 18-50mm lenses, but I’d recommend lenses closer to the 300-600mm mark to get crisp close-up shots of the Moon. The higher the number, the better.”

Kirkley said changing settings from AF (auto-focus) to MF (manual-focus) is key in order to focus on the event.

He also suggests using a wide aperture lens, fast shutter speed and adjusting the ISO.

“There is no ‘perfect’ setting to take a photo of the lunar eclipse but start with these basics and go from there.”

The last time New Zealand saw a blood supermoon was in 1982.

Credit: Stuff.co.nz