Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! The moon illusion is a well-known trick of the eye: a low-hanging moon looks unusually big. The moon is really the same size (0.5 degrees wide) no matter where it appears in the sky--photographs prove it--but the human eye and brain tell us differently. A time-lapse sequence of the moon rising over Seattle. To the camera, the moon appears to be the same size no matter what its location on the sky.
Thank U Q Thank u Q. But how do you think this illusory trait evolved in us humans? I always wondered if it was due to refraction of light in the atmosphere. At the horizon the light travels through more atmosphere than at the zenith or anywhere close to the zenith. I'll try to do a diagram in paint to illustrate my hypothesis. But anyways; basically, I think that we evolved this trait due to the fact that we always saw the sun and moon like that from the birth of our species. And now even if we see a ball above us as opposed to eye level we see different sized balls. With the photographs. I don't know. More investigation needed.
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/moonbig.html http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/3d/moonillu.htm http://www.griffithobs.org/IPSMoonIllus.html
This obviously wasn't an issue Thank you Adam Those links were very helpful in bashing my hypothesis. Appreciate it. Now I know what it isn't. I guess it is all about our brain. Shortest thread in the sites history I hope.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
