Giant moon illusion expected in tonight's sky

[Swamp Rat]

Giant moon illusion expected in tonight's sky
By Dave Choate
June 18, 2008 5:00 PM

PORTSMOUTH — If the moon looks especially huge tonight, fear not: It’s all in your mind.

According to the Web site of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the full moon will hang low on the horizon and look unusually large this Wednesday night. Though it may appear to be huge, it’s actually an optical illusion.

University of New Hampshire Observatory Manager and physics graduate student Rich Woolf said that the moon appears larger when compared with familiar foreground objects such as trees and houses which appear closer because the moon is closer to the horizon. The trick, he said, is purely from human expectations; the moon looks closer when it’s overhead and can be contrasted with the familiar.

(snip)

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080618/NEWS/80618049

[NC_Nurse]

1. Timmeh!!!

If it's a moon illusion, wouldn't it be his rear end? :o

[Richard Steele]

2. That might be huge, but it would be no illusion. nm

[texanwitch]

3. You know I thought the moon look strange when I went out to feed the stray kitties.

The moon did look awful big.

[malaise]

4. Too good SwampRat

I thought the moon was all cheese and no potato. That's one big ass moon :rofl:

[Drum]

5. lol

yer the greatest S R!

[Canuckistanian]

6. The moon is always the size of an aspirin...

...held at arms'length. It never changes.

Try it out a few times.

[symbolman]

26. You need to get out more

Here in Hawaii the moon and the Sun on the horizon can be bigger than your fist, optical illusion to be sure..

But very nice when it happens..

Great graphic as usual Swampy, Timmeh watches over us all now, always ready to spread good Right Wing Smear :)

Actually Mars would be more appropriate - the God of War.. :)

[Canuckistanian]

29. Nuh-uh...

http://www.exo.net/~pauld/summer_institute/summer_day1perception/moon_illusion.html

[symbolman]

30. Uh Huh!

So There! :)

[Swamp Rat]

31. LOL!

[symbolman]

33. StrokeGirl to the OctoMan's (Octogenarian) Rescue

Unfortunately she'll have to battle FunkyhottieLady to get to Obaman! No contest :)

What do you make two of these a Day now? Who's walking the dogs?! :)

I can see them with their legs crossed telling each other, "Yeah man, he's gonna be through with a killer McCain graphic in just a minute, we can wait, it'll be worth!" :)

[Swamp Rat]

34. I've been working overtime because I am about to take a break from DU

:hi:

[symbolman]

35. Whuffo?

peeved at DU? Gotta getta job, for the Big money? Going to school?

Not going away Mad are we?

[Swamp Rat]

36. School

I don't get mad. I get even. :D

[symbolman]

37. Dunno what you're studying

But I assume your gonna be great at it :)

[Gabi Hayes]

7. ,,,,,I see some trouble on the way.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeZm7KQJT1o

I AM goin' round to night

thanks for the reminder, you!

RIP, Mr. Potato head

nice graphic, as always

[Gabi Hayes]

10. For you, "Mr. President"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfjU3_XOaA&feature=related

some folks are born, made to wave the flag. ooooh, they red, white, and blue.....

[wurzel]

8. I have never tried this but I'm told it works.

You hold your thumb up till it eclipses the moon when it looks like a giant. Note the distance your arm is away from your face. Do the same when the moon looks it's normal size. And the distance of your out-stretched arm will be the same. Thus proving the difference in size is an illusion.

[NewEnglandGirl]

9. Had no power most of the evening

(third time in a week) and still have no phone. We've been having these really crazy storms but tonight it stayed light out until very late and it was really helpful having no electricity. I wonder if it was because of the moon.

[Sal Minella]

12. Also, Summer solstice (longest day) 20 June.

[Gabi Hayes]

11. just went out. moon is about 10:30 in the sky, if horizon=9:00

looks exactly the same size it did last night

what gives? too late?

neighbor said it was red earlier, but didn't notice any significant size difference

[Cleita]

13. This morning at 5:00 AM PDT when I let kitty out I looked west over the ocean

and the moon was a bright pinkish orange and much larger than usual. I believe the sun that was just rising in the east over the hill behind my house did that optical illusion. Maybe we are in for more of the same tonight.

[doublethink]

14. Ha ha good to see Tim looking down on us ...... heard something ......

bout a rainbow at his services today .... didn't catch the particulars though. Peace.

[Swamp Rat]

19. Russert Has Risen

O8) Buffalo is Blessed O8)

[SoCalDem]

27. Jesus sent us a double rainbow..thanking us for Timmeh

If it starts raining dry-erase boards, it will be the true sign of the apocalypse:)

[bleever]

15. Little Boy Blue and the Man in the Moon.

Just told my son that moon was coming up in 20 minutes. Look forward to seeing it with him.

[Stellen]

16. Looking upside down didn't make any difference.

It's still huge, and the same size no matter how you look at it.

[Hissyspit]

17. Funny. I watched it rise tonight. It was a weird pale orange and I could see the Earth's rotation

pretty clearly as it came up over the pine trees. I just happened to be outside as it started to rise. When I looked at again about 15 minutes later, it looked much smaller.

Did you know the moon rises slightly less than an hour later every night? People used to know this back before electric lighting.

[bleever]

18. Noticing the earth's rotation in a moonrise

is always amazing to me.

It's also awe-inspiring to watch the shadow of the horizon climb up tall trees to the east of my kitchen window.

[file83]

20. There is another reason why the moon appears larger when lower...

The reason is due to another illusion which is that the horizon appears further away than the overhead sky. So even though he moon is the same size, your brain thinks that since it is closer it must be smaller. The opposite occurs when it's closer to the horizon. It seems that the moon is further away so your brain judges that it is larger.

This has been proven in experiments.

Combined with the other illusion of comparing it to objects near the ground, the total effect is quite pronounced.

[windoe]

21. Swamp Rat you must be a hilarious guy

where is that McCain thread from last night, I almost wet myself laughing.

(NO disrespect to those in mourning, I have no TV)

[EFerrari]

22. That's funny. I waited to walk until the moon was up and

man, was it huge.

Gave me an idea for a story about my neighbors in Silicon Valley that worked on the moon landing while we were growing up lunaticos.

:hi:

[DemoTex]

23. The waning gibbous moon .. 99% of full.

http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/phasenow.php

[KoKo]

24. Hysterical......! Thanks n/t

[Eurobabe]

25. LMAO!!!

I was all set to post that is was Timmeh.

[Maureen1322]

28. Moonstruck

[pleah]

32. I hope I don't see THAT man in the moon!!

:rofl:











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