Stargazers keen to glimpse celestial beauty will have to wait out cloud

A total lunar eclipse in 2015 as viewed from Auckland Domain. Photo / Nick Reed.

New Zealand's beautiful night sky will feature a rare astronomical wonder tonight as the supermoon, blue moon and full lunar eclipse align.

But catching a glimpse of the celestial sight could also be a rare feat with cloud cover threatening to block the view.

The sight had not been seen since 1982 and would not likely occur again until 2037.

A supermoon occurred when a full moon is at the perigee, the closet point to Earth, while a blue moon was simply the second full moon in a calendar month.

A full lunar eclipse was when the moon was completely in the Earth's shadow and was dubbed a blood moon due to its colour.

Stardome Observatory and Planetarium astronomy educator David Britten said the three occurring together was a "rare" event but recommended patience for those hoping to catch a glimpse.

The red colouring would be reasonably subtle until 1.50am when the moon fell completely in the Earth's shadow, he said.

The deeper red would be noticeable for about an hour.

"It's a long event which means hopefully there will be patches in the cloud that will allow people to get a good view.

"Fingers-crossed a big storm doesn't block it out."

The Stardome would be open for the entirety of the phenomenon for keen stargazers.

Photography workshops would be held on site for those who wanted to learn how to immortalise the moment with a DSLR.

Senior meteorologist Lisa Murray said she was picking that Hawke's Bay and northern Wairarapa had the best chance of viewing the alignment.

The possibly of seeing it in Auckland was more hindered by the cloud cover than the chance of showers, she said.

There was a lot of cloud around that "made it kind of tricky".

But there was always the chance of a break in the cloud cover, she said.

The west coast of the South Island had a poorer chance of spotting the spectacle.