Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 exptools 1/6/84; site ihldt.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!ihldt!stewart From: stewart@ihldt.UUCP (R. J. Stewart) Newsgroups: net.astro Subject: Re: moon on the horizon - question. Message-ID: <2265@ihldt.UUCP> Date: Fri, 2-Mar-84 09:53:05 EST Article-I.D.: ihldt.2265 Posted: Fri Mar 2 09:53:05 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 3-Mar-84 11:06:07 EST References: <1690@hplabsc.UUCP>, <694@ihuxq.UUCP> <225@ucbvax.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL Lines: 18 > So naturally when the moon is at the horizon (a closer point, > according to the mind) it looks bigger, since closer objects are > bigger. The way I understand, the effect is just the opposite from this. When the moon is high in the sky, there is nothing to compare it to. The mind tends to just pick a frame of reference for it. On the other hand, when the moon is close to the horizon, the mind says something like: "Gee, the moon is farther away than that building, and that tree, and everything else I can see. Since it's so far away, it must be really big to cover that much of the sky". In other words, for a constant apparent size, the perceived size gets larger as the perceived distance gets greater. This effect can be created in the laboratory in several different ways. Bob Stewart