Why does the moon change size?!?!

It's an optical illusion due to surrounding items in the view.

When it's close to the horizon it will appear larger than when there's nothing close to it in your field of view.

Also when it's on the horizon the atmosphere can like a magnifying glass and make it appear bigger. Something to do with light bending around the curvature of the earth I think.

The reason it went from big to small and back to big again was the third time you probably were looking at it close to hill.
 
Mickey_D said:
Also when it's on the horizon the atmosphere can like a magnifying glass and make it appear bigger. Something to do with light bending around the curvature of the earth I think.
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That's what I used to think as well, until I read this link. Check the question at the very bottom.

Good topic, actually. :)

Learn something new
Everyday
Here at OcUK.
 
Raist said:
That's what I used to think as well, until I read this link. Check the question at the very bottom.

Good topic, actually. :)

Learn something new
Everyday
Here at OcUK.
Click to expand...

right, so when i saw the moon the size of 3 houses, it was infact really the size of my finger nail and i was just seeing things? im sorry, that doesnt add up to me lol that theory does explin some things, but not all of them lol
 
james.miller said:
right, so when i saw the moon the size of 3 houses, it was infact really the size of my finger nail and i was just seeing things? im sorry, that doesnt add up to me lol that theory does explin some things, but not all of them lol
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You said so yourself... you were 13 years old then. Perspective is completely different at that age. And you never said how far away the houses were. ;)
 
Does your mum remember that view as well?


forjames6az.jpg

Artist rendering of james' imagination

:D
 
james.miller said:
right, so when i saw the moon the size of 3 houses, it was infact really the size of my finger nail and i was just seeing things? im sorry, that doesnt add up to me lol that theory does explin some things, but not all of them lol
Click to expand...
There are two theories (both posted above), and (as far as I am aware) neither have been proven yet:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4619063.stm

There was a recent demonstration of this effect on the Sky at Night. I think it went something like this:

Turn on a torch and position it so that, while standing, you can see both the light from the moon and the light from the torch side by side and so that they appear to be the same size. You'll need the moon to be fairly low to do this, obviously.

Now, sit or lay down where you are and look again. Did you see the moon 'change size'?
 
Its distance from the earth does change with it's orbital path making it appear to change size slightly. That's why sometimes a solar eclipse can look like this

solareclipses1a.jpg


and other times it looks like this

uesc_04_img0209.jpg
 
vonhelmet said:
Is a camera not an optical instrument then?
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There's nothing wrong with your “optics” when you think the moon is bigger, it is the processing of the image in your brain.

Obviously a camera doesn't have this and just shows what is really there (as does your eye before your brain gets involved).



But as said it's just an optical illusion, you can demonstrate it to yourself quite easily, but reading this thread you can see how myth and superstition evolves. :)
 
Fop said:
There's nothing wrong with your “optics” when you think the moon is bigger, it is the processing of the image in your brain.

Obviously a camera doesn't have this and just shows what is really there (as does your eye before your brain gets involved).
Click to expand...

Indeed :)
 
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