Kiwis who looked to the sky on Wednesday night were in for a treat with the biggest and brightest Moon of the year shining down upon them.
Dubbed a 'blue supermoon', the spectacle will appear much closer to Earth than the average moon.
Astronomers say the spectacle makes the moon look 8 percent bigger and 16 percent brighter than a normal full moon.
Stardome astronomy educator Josh Aoraki told AM on Thursday a 'blue supermoon' is when two things happen at once.
"We have a supermoon, so that's when the moon happens to be at its closest point to Earth within its orbit and if that occurs during a full moon, we call it a supermoon. So it looks bigger and brighter," he explained.
"Then we have a blue moon. So that's kind of just a saying to talk about something that's real that doesn't happen often. [But] confusingly it has nothing to do with the colour, so the moon is not going to be blue, but because it is the second full moon in a month, it is a super blue moon."
Aoraki said the moon is usually about 384,000km away from Earth, but the supermoon is much closer and only 356,000km away.
If you missed the 'blue supermoon' overnight don't fear, you'll get another chance to catch it on Thursday evening.
The blue supermoon hasn't been seen since 2009 and won't be seen again until 2032.
Kiwis have been quick to send in their photos of the 'blue supermoon' from around New Zealand.
Here are some photos sent to Newshub and AM of the 'blue supermoon'.
