BEIJING (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - For Chinese who celebrate the annual Lantern Festival - or Chap Goh Meh - by going out on the streets to view the dazzling display of lanterns to mark the climax of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebrations, they will have one more beautiful item to gaze upon this year - a supermoon.

The phenomenon will present the biggest and brightest full moon of the year on the night of Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year.

"A supermoon occurs when the moon is simultaneously full and at its perigee (the point in the moon's orbit when it is closest to Earth). When this happens, the moon appears 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter in the sky than usual," said Mr Hu Fanghao, director of science popularisation at the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing.

The supermoon can be seen across China on Tuesday (Feb 19) night.

The ideal viewing time is set to be at 11.54pm on Tuesday when the moon will be at its fullest.