A rare supermoon lunar eclipse taking place this weekend will make the Chinese Moon Festival one of the most auspicious ever, a Massey University Chinese expert says.
Chinese believe a full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion and the moon is supposed to be the brightest and fullest on mid-autumn night, which falls on September 27 this year.
But also on that night, a supermoon eclipse is set to occur, where the supermoon and a lunar eclipse takes place at the same time, something that has happened just five times since 1910.
Dr Henry Chung, associate professor in marketing and Massey University China specialist said the Mid-Autumn Festival was the second most important festival to ethnic Chinese after Chinese New Year.
Families would gather for a reunion feast and eat mooncakes while admiring the full moon.
Koreans, who also celebrate the festival, call it Chuseok and the term used by the Japanese is Tsukimi.
"The supermoon eclipse will make this year's festival most auspicious because they believe is that the bigger and rounder the moon, the stronger the bond and unity is for families," said Dr Henry Chung, associate professor in marketing and China affairs specialist at Massey University.
"The brighter the moon also signifies a better and more prosperous year ahead."
However, the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand said the eclipse would not be visible from New Zealand, and people who wanted to see the rare eclipse would have to travel to "the other side of the Earth".
The rare celestial treat, which will last for up to 72 minutes, can be viewed by skywatchers in North and South America, western Asia, Europe, Africa and the Eastern Pacific Ocean region.
A supermoon occurs when the moon reaches its peak while it is closest to earth making the moon's diameter look up to 14 per cent bigger, according to Nasa.
Vanessa Rancour, Stardome Observatory astronomy educator, said the eclipse cannot be seen from Auckland as the event will be occurring at about 6pm our time.
"To see it, it will have to be taking place between midnight and 5am usually," Ms Rancour said.
The last time a supermoon coincided with a lunar eclipse was in 1982, and of the six supermoon events this year, this will be the closest to earth.
The new moon will also bring joy and blessings to Muslims celebrating Eid-ul Adha, or the Islamic feast of sacrifice, which commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to Allah.
Chairman of the Federation of Islamic Associations hilal (moon sighting) committee Sheikh Mohammad Amir said the festival would be observed in New Zealand this Friday.
The festival involves animal sacrifice, where a sheep or a goat is slaughtered, prayers and family gatherings.
