{"id":790407,"date":"2024-10-17T05:47:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T10:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=790407"},"modified":"2024-10-17T05:47:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T10:47:52","slug":"the-moon-illusion-makes-the-moon-look-huge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=790407","title":{"rendered":"The moon illusion makes the moon look huge!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"3 Tips for Viewing The Moon\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8Y_eR2bZj2U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>The moon illusion is a trick of the mind<\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve all seen a full moon looming <em>large<\/em> shortly after it rises, when it\u2019s still hugging the horizon. And it\u2019s true that the moon is sometimes closer to Earth than at other times, making it minutely larger in our sky. Yet the difference is barely discernible. When the moon viewed near the horizon looks larger than usual, your brain is playing a trick on you. It\u2019s called the <em>moon illusion<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>You can check it out this week. On October 17, the Super Hunter\u2019s Moon will be the closest supermoon in 2024. But even a brighter than normal supermoon will not look <em>noticeably <\/em>larger. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Moon Illusion\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/49RztN4Bqu0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>It\u2019s all an illusion<\/h3>\n<p>We still don\u2019t know the precise cause of the moon illusion. But the video above, from AsapSCIENCE, offers some explanations. <\/p>\n<p>A common theory is when the moon is near the horizon, you\u2019re seeing it in the company of many familiar visual reference points: trees, buildings, mountains and so on. Your brain automatically compares the moon to these reference points. But when the moon is higher up, there\u2019s nothing to compare it to. As AsapSCIENCE says:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The moon seems smaller against the vastness of the night sky.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The moon looks bigger on the horizon. There is an optical illusion which makes the moon appear to be larger the lower it is in the sky. <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zMAiAJ58g7\">pic.twitter.com\/zMAiAJ58g7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Space Explorer Mike (@MichaelGalanin) <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichaelGalanin\/status\/902310939772555264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 28, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Prove it to yourself<\/h3>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019d like to test this theory yourself. According to NASA, here are some ways to prove it to yourself:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Hold up your outstretched index finger next to the moon. You\u2019ll find that your fingernail and the moon are about the same size. Or try looking at the moon through a paper tube, or bend over and look backward between your legs. When you view it like this, the moon will be nowhere near as big as it had seemed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Or NASA suggests:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Another ironclad way to size-check the moon is to take a photo when it\u2019s near the horizon, and another when it\u2019s high in the sky. If you keep your camera zoom settings the same, you\u2019ll find that the moon is the same width, side to side, in both photos.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>What about a red or orange moon?<\/h3>\n<p>By the way, there\u2019s a second phenomenon that the moon displays when we see it near the horizon. That is, a low moon often appears red or orange in color. That reddish color is <em>not<\/em> an illusion. It\u2019s a true physical effect, caused by the fact that \u2013 when the moon is low in the sky \u2013 you\u2019re seeing it through a greater thickness of Earth\u2019s atmosphere than when it\u2019s overhead. The atmosphere filters out the bluer wavelengths of moonlight (which is really reflected sunlight). Meanwhile, it allows the red component of moonlight to travel straight through to your eyes. So a low moon is likely to look red or orange to you.<\/p>\n<p>So how do people get those photos of extra big moons seen near a horizon? Photographers use zoom lenses and have familiar objects in the foreground making the more distant moon look huge. So they\u2019re the result of photographic tricks and techniques, which you can read about here or here.<\/p>\n<h3>Some photos from our EarthSky Community<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_444108\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-444108\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-444108\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View at EarthSky Community Photos. | A great example of the moon illusion from Stephanie Becker in Soda Springs, California. She captured this image of the July full supermoon on July 2, 2023. Thank you, Stephanie!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_449856\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-449856\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2023\/08\/supermoon-Cecille-Kennedy-Depoe-Bay-Oregon-Aug-30-2023-e1693487349947.jpg\" alt=\"Golden, huge moon with line of clouds and trees in front.\" width=\"800\" height=\"584\" class=\"size-full wp-image-449856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2023\/08\/supermoon-Cecille-Kennedy-Depoe-Bay-Oregon-Aug-30-2023-e1693487349947.jpg 800w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2023\/08\/supermoon-Cecille-Kennedy-Depoe-Bay-Oregon-Aug-30-2023-e1693487349947-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2023\/08\/supermoon-Cecille-Kennedy-Depoe-Bay-Oregon-Aug-30-2023-e1693487349947-768x561.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-449856\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy in Depoe Bay, Oregon, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Cecille wrote: \u201cThe blue supermoon shines behind the clouds as it rises over the hills and the trees. A few minutes before the moon rose, the clouds were lavender rose pink. Then the lovely moon appeared.\u201d Thank you, Cecille!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bottom line: It\u2019s the Super Hunter\u2019s Moon this week. You might see an extra-large-looking moon low in the sky. It\u2019s the moon illusion that makes the moon look so big.<\/p>\n<p>Did you get a great photo of the Super Hunter\u2019s Moon? Submit your photos here. We love to see them!<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Deborah Byrd<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky&#8217;s website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She&#8217;s the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. &#8220;Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/video-the-moon-illusion\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The moon illusion is a trick of the mind We\u2019ve all seen a full moon looming large shortly after it rises, when it\u2019s still hugging the horizon. And it\u2019s true&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":790408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=790407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/790408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=790407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=790407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=790407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}