Moon Gymnastics

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For most observers, the Moon will appear to be full, but will not actually reach that point until 04:14 UT tomorrow morning. Just take some time to watch it rise! Known as the Rose Moon, Strawberry Moon and Honey Moon, if atmospheric conditions are right, you might see an orangish tint to its form, but the real fun is "moon illusion"! Everyone knows the Moon looks larger on the horizon, but did you know this is a psychological phenomena and not a physical one? Prove it to yourself by looking at the rising Moon upright... It looks larger, doesn't it? Now stand on your head, or find a way comfortable to view it upside down... Now how big is it?

Now stand on your head, or find a way comfortable to view it upside down... Now how big is it?

You are kidding........ right?

Moon illusion:

I think I read somewhere that experiments with human perception show that our eyes have a tendency to scan to left and right when taking in a scene, rather than up and down. This may be a factor as well


the "flattened dome" idea might be correct: I asked a friend to point first to the horizon, then to the zenith, then half way between. Generally
my friend's arm was raised not 45 but about 30 degrees above the
horizontal. My unscientific guess is that most of us go through life
(as did our ancestors) with our attention directed mostly to the
horizontal and the nearby region above and below, thereby conditioning
our perception of space.

Eamonn A