A Question.....sorry if it is stupid.
This is for all the clever 'astro' types out there.Coming home from the shops this evening we noticed how huge the moon was.
It is a full moon tonight and not only is it enormous, but also very low in the sky.
I know I am astronomically challenged so I would like to ask all of you clever clogs......why?
It looks very beautiful but I don't remember seeing such a huge moon before.
There is probably a very well known explanation for this that has passed me by.
A mega gap in my education.
If no one here can answer I will ask on Facebook.
I haven't yet as I don't want everyone to know what a thickie I am.
Ta muchly.
posted by Sue Banks @ 5:17 PM
2 Comments:
It's to do with the refraction of light through the Earth's atmosphere. When the moon's overhead the light comes though less air, but when it's low down it comes though more air and gets spread out more.
I think.....
It called Moon Illusion. It was on Radio 2 that other day when someone else posed the question. When we see objects such as clouds, birds and aeroplanes in the sky, those near the horizon are typically further away from us than those overhead. This may result in the perception of the sky itself as a comparatively flat or only gently curving surface in which objects moving towards the horizon always recede away from us.
If we perceive the Moon to be in the general vicinity of those other things we see in the sky, we would expect it to also recede as it approaches the horizon, which should result in a smaller retinal image. But since its retinal image is approximately the same size whether it is near the horizon or not, our brains, attempting to compensate for perspective, assume that a low moon must be physically larger.
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