why does the sun and moon always look bigger when on the horizons?

Answer 1

It is an optical illusion. When the moon is high in the sky your brain has nothing to compare it with and it looks relatively small. When it gets closer to the horizon your brain can compare the relative size of the moon to another object, the horizon in this case, and it looks bigger.
There are occasions when the moon actually is closer than usual to Earth. Depending on it's position in the sky it can also seem larger then.

Answer 2

It is purely an optical illusion as has been described. Measure the Moon on the horizon or take a photograph, then do the same when the Moon is high in the sky. You will see they are the same size.

Another way to check is to turn your back on the Moon, bend over and view it upside down between your legs. It will look the normal size.

Answer 3

It's an optical illusion. We view the sky as mostly flat overhead. Therefore, anything near the horizon looks like it's farther away than when it's directly overhead. If our brains computed the sky as a half-spherical dome, the moon would look the same size no matter what relation it had to the horizon.

Just look at an airplane flying overhead. It looks farther away when it's near the horizon. That's because it's true in the case of an airplane or a cloud, but not the moon.

Answer 4

Those who say it is an optical illusion are correct. I have taken many photos of the moon at the horizon and above and they appear and measure to be the same size, whether it is on the horizon or directly overhead.

Answer 5

you're probable questioning of "A humorous ingredient happened on a thank you to the Moon", which proved no longer something of the type. or maybe "Capricorn a million", which never claimed to be something different than a fictional tale. We went to the Moon in 1969-seventy two--each and every of the data helps that end. different countries have not landed human beings on the Moon because of the fact that's totally costly (like tens/hundreds of billions of greenbacks costly) and there is little to be won by using landing an astronaut on the Moon, a minimum of now that that's been executed already. in spite of everything only 2 different countries, Russia and China, even have manned area classes. different countries could could start up from the floor up. And, ultimately, China IS making plans to land adult men on the Moon. in my view i think of that's stupid to land human beings on Mars--that's many cases greater durable than getting human beings to and from the Moon, and what precisely can we earnings by using doing so? making a Mars colony self-sustainable is a protracted shot so some distance as i will tell, and terraforming Mars with present day or close to-destiny technologies is a pipe dream. Adam: going lower back to the Moon, and going to Mars, grew to become into G.W. Bush's thought. nonetheless think of that's pointless and a waste of money, or did it only replace into so whilst a Democrat took place of work in the White homestead?

Answer 6

Yes, it is an optical illusion. Yet, the moon's distance from the earth also varies slightly over the course of time, and this will make an actual difference to the observed size of the moon.

Answer 7

IT'S just an optical illussion they look bigger when the earth is on it's nearest point.

Answer 8

optical illusion..it is always the same size

Answer 9

Because you can see more gases in the atmosphere at that angle

Answer 10

the atmosphere at that angle magnifies everything. there is less atmosphere between our viewing and the object as it climbs higher into the sky