Where can you see the moon as enormous as you often do on the telly?

Answer 1

TV tends to greatly exxagerate the size of the Moon through special effects.

Answer 2

I've seen an enormous red moon in the SF bay area walking home one night. I've seen a huge yellow moon (normal color) camping in Oregon. I don't know what causes it though. Both times the moon was full as could be.

Summer Moon Illusion

06.20.05


The lowest-hanging full moon in 18 years is going to play tricks on you this week.
Sometimes you can't believe your eyes. This week is one of those times.

Step outside any evening at sunset and look around. You'll see a giant moon rising in the east. It looks like Earth's moon, round and cratered; the Man in the Moon is in his usual place. But something's wrong. This full moon is strangely inflated. It's huge!

You've just experienced the Moon Illusion.

Sky watchers have known this for thousands of years: moons hanging low in the sky look unnaturally big. Cameras don't see it, but our eyes do. It's a real illusion.



This week's full moon hangs lower in the sky than any full moon since June 1987, so the Moon Illusion is going to be extra strong.

What makes the moon so low? It's summer. Remember, the sun and the full Moon are on opposite sides of the sky. During summer the sun is high, which means the full moon must be low. This week's full moon occurs on June 22nd, barely a day after the summer solstice on June 21st--perfect timing for the Moon Illusion.

When you look at the moon, rays of moonlight converge and form an image about 0.15 mm wide in the back of your eye. High moons and low moons make the same sized spot. So why does your brain think one is bigger than the other? After all these years, scientists still aren't sure why.

Just a note from a NASA site.

Answer 3

Take a picture of the next full moon with a digital camera right after it rises in the east. It will probably be light yellow.

Then 6 hours later using the same camera with the same lens and settings take another picture of the full moon when it is as high up as its going to get.

Look at and compare the two pictures on your computer, the diameter of the moon on both pictures will be exactly the same.

It is a myth that the full moon can be larger or smaller.

The moon's orbit around the earth is not a perfect circle, so at times it is closer or farther from earth. This difference is not noticeable with the human eye, it is so tiny.

Answer 4

The size of the moon hardly changes at all, but it is a well-known illusion that it appears much larger when close to the horizon than when high up in the sky. Even the simplest experiment will show that this is just an illusion, but nevertheless, it is a very powerful one.
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Answer 5

Anywhere you want as long as you have a telescope. The moon will appear larger at the horizon than it does higher up.