is that computer graphics or is the moon really big over the horizon (out west somewhere - desert?)
2007-10-02 08:31:27 · 9 answers · asked by just_a_hick 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
darnit. i never thought it would be the same size from anywhere. Is it possible when it rises or sets in the desert it would look bigger ? idk
2007-10-02 08:42:12 · update #1
The moon appears the same from anywhere on the planet.
2007-10-02 08:35:36 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. Scientist 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The Moon is essentially the same size everywhere. When it's low on the horizon it appears larger to our eyes and brain because of something called "the Moon illusion," but it is just that, an illusion. What they do in movies is to shoot the Moon with a long telephoto lens, so that it appears larger on the screen. Many people with ordinary cameras are really disappointed when they see the results of a picture of what they saw as a huge Moon: a tiny dot in the picture!
2007-10-02 17:39:22 · answer #2 · answered by GeoffG 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Moon might *look* bigger when it's rising or setting, but that is only an illusion.
The Moon is a constant physical size and a (more or less) constant distance from the Earth, so it is the same size in the sky to everyone.
2007-10-02 15:48:21 · answer #3 · answered by ZikZak 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
In contradiction, to what all of the other contributors have thusfar said, anywhere you happen to be, you can get the moon to appear to be larger, by controlling your perspective.
Although what they say is for the most part true that the moon tends to take up more or less one half of one arc degree of the sky from almost anywhere on earth, if you were to use a camera with a narrow field lense, or I should say a lense with a focal distance of greater than the focal distance of the human eye, and point it at the moon, the moon will appear to take up more of the available aperture than it would to the naked eye, so it becomes huge on film.
2007-10-02 16:06:52 · answer #4 · answered by Robert G 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Since the moon goes around the equator, more or less, it would appear a bit bigger if you were in the southern U.S. Atmospheric effects would be much larger than that -- and the moon on the horizon illusion would make it seem bigger yet.
So: far south Texas, at moonset, on a clear night.
2007-10-02 17:28:42 · answer #5 · answered by morningfoxnorth 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Hi. Sorry but no, the Moon is almost the same size for everyone. It's actually a little closer at moon rise because you are on the nearer side of Earth, but not much difference.
2007-10-02 15:35:03 · answer #6 · answered by Cirric 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Sorry, but it just doesn't happen.
The Moon subtends to a 0.5 degree angle in the sky.
2007-10-02 15:37:20 · answer #7 · answered by Bobby 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Everywhere... if you shoot it with a 1200mm supertelephoto-lens:
http://dvinfo.net/canon/images/images17.php
http://k43.pbase.com/o5/33/205833/1/67748045.hxh0zJHS.Canon12005.jpg
A small amateur telescope for less than one tenth of the price of that monster will also do.
;-)
2007-10-02 16:18:07 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
hollywood of course.
2007-10-02 16:09:36 · answer #9 · answered by jl 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋