Why Does The Moon Look Bigger On The Horizon
Olivia Luz
Atmospheric refraction causes the moon to appear very slightly smaller in the vertical axis when it is near the horizon vs.
There s one notable way in which the moon s appearance is actually different when it s low in the sky. When the moon first comes up hold something small in front of you. The moon does look more yellow near the horizon. Try this at home whenever the moon is full.
According to one psychological explanation of the moon illusion this can force people to believe that the moon is bigger when compared to the objects at the horizon like trees and buildings. The moon up in the sky looks smaller due to the lack of reference objects whereas on the horizon it can be compared to whatever it s close to and therefore look larger. One reason why the horizon might appear more distant than the sky overhead is that our. This happens because the moon s light travels a longer distance through the atmosphere.
One theory about the moon illusion says that when the moon is near the horizon we perceive it to be farther away from us than when it is high in the sky. When it is high in the sky. When the moon is directly overhead it seems small and very far away but on the horizon it seems to swell in size. This is similar to the ebbinghaus illusion which shows that when a circle is surrounded by larger circles it looks smaller than when it is surrounded by smaller circles.
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The moon also looks larger if seen behind a distant high rise building for instance.
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