2007-03-23 05:17:35 · 7 answers · asked by shail 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
i know! i always think that is cool....but actually it is the exact same size when its rising and overhead (next time you see one measure it) the reason it looks bigger rising is because your mind compares it to the horizon and makes you think its bigger....it kinda works in the same way your mind processes optical illusions....just a mind trick! :)
2007-03-23 05:24:24 · answer #1 · answered by dani1elle 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is not an optical illusion caused by a reference to the horizon. The light is coming in at an angle and is spread out over more of the atmosphere so it looks bigger just like the sun does at sunset. If you take a flashligh and hold it directly over a point the light on the ball is about the same size and the flashlight. But if you lower the flashlight and shine it on the ball at an angle, the light on the ball becomes much bigger. This is what is happening as the moon, or sun, sets.
2007-03-23 12:45:49 · answer #2 · answered by Doc E 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Any answer to your question depends entirely on who you ask or which website you go to. A Google search brings up lots of sites, each with The Answer.
One answer seems to have been put to rest...that the apparent increase in size of the moon near the horizon is caused by Earth's atmosphere. Photographs taken of the moon at the horizon and much higher in the sky show *no* difference in the moon's size (..http://facstaff.uww.edu/mccreadd/intro9.htm..)
Check out the website shown above and below for a lengthy and scholarly discussion of the big-moon phenomenon.
2007-03-23 12:42:25 · answer #3 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's just an optical illusion because you have references at the horizon. If you covered the moon with a coin, quarter for example, at the horizon and overhead, you'd see the size was the same.
2007-03-23 12:23:05 · answer #4 · answered by Gene 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When the moon rises,you view as a part of a landscape,above a mountain for example.The human brain
makes it appear closer because of the distance comparison with the landscape.hi in the sky you see the exact image of it.
2007-03-23 14:49:39 · answer #5 · answered by najj 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's because of the atmosphere, you're looking through a huge lens made of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent other gases. when straight up, its in the middle of the lens, when at the horizon its at the side.
2007-03-23 12:21:38 · answer #6 · answered by Jesse C 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Our atmosphere give an optical illusion and makes it look bigger
2007-03-23 12:22:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋