The moon, a long time ago

[heathermoon]

Hello, <br />Hoping someone can help me with this. When I was around 13 or 14 (so that would be 1984 or 1985), I was home alone one evening, noticed that it was very bright outside, went out to look, and the moon was HUGE! This is how huge....I walked out to the middle of the street and looked directly at the moon; the view was about two blocks away, which is where the road curved away and down, making the horizon appear to be only those two blocks away. The moon was full, and larger than the entire width of the two lane road! It truley looked like I could walk those two blocks and step directly onto the moon. I don't know if this matters, but this was in Florida, just north of Tampa. I know I wasn't the only one in the state who saw this, but my family wasn't home, and everyone I did ask at the time didn't see it. I heard that the moon comes very close to the earth every so often, but can't find any info on it. Could you tell me what this may have been? I've never seen anything like it since, and would love to show a picture to my kids if anyone knows where to find one. Someone somewhere must have one? Thanks, <br />Heather

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Welcome to SDC. <br /> The lower the Moon is to the horizon the more atmosphere you are viewing it through. That in turn can magnify it, in the right conditions, & make it look larger or closer. It's just an optical illusion. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[kyle_baron]

That's a new one to me. I always thought it was because at the horizon, there are other objects (trees, buildings, etc.) to guage the size. When the moon is in the sky near zenith, there are no reference points to guage the size. It's the same size in either case. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

See an excellent discussion here on Phil Plaitt's Bad Astronomy pages <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[lukman]

They are all false, moon is not bigger, to prove it, use a stick to measure. It is only optical illusion, telling your brain that the moon is biggetr near the horizon. Infact, there is no explanation yet, the most acceptable answer is optical illusion. <br /><br />Some may say that in the horizon, you can compare the moon to its surrounding, example tree, houses, make it look bigger. In fact, even in the desert where nothing in between, moon always look bigger. Same thing happen to sun when they set or rise, especially beautiful sun in the beach horizon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[umpa_lumpa]

I always thought that when the moon is in a certain spot with the earth, the atmosphere bends and distorts the image, like a magnifying glass, making the moon look larger than it really is.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Please read the link I posted.<br /><br />thanx,<br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[dragon04]

Good link. <br /><br />However, it doesn't answer a question I have.<br /><br />I'm from West Virginia. Long ago, I happened to be in FLorida for an 8 week training class.<br /><br />I happened to see a rising Full Moon while there. Compared to what I see in Wheeling WV, the Moon appeared far more <b>huge</b> from Altamonte Springs.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

No matter what you perceived, the larger moon was more likely an optical illusion. If you measure the actual size, the variations are only as described below.<br /><br />There is a difference due to the moon's eccentric orbit, which is clearly measureable (about a 5.5% difference between maximimum and minimum size) , and a VERY minor effect from refraction at the horizon (undoubtedly too small to perceive, AFAIK, a few tenths of a percent at best))<br /><br />After that, all that is left is the eye-brain perception system, an interesting subject in it's own right. <br /><br />Edited to insert actual percentage difference between max apogee and min perigee. And that would be the maximum difference, unless a full moon occurred at max and min the difference is less every month.<br /><br />Did you check out the thread with the month's worth of moon shots showing the phase, size, and libration diffence through a month?<br /><br />If not, I'll find the link. It shows the actual scale of the changes. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[nexium]

I agree, the moon looks larger when it is full and close to the horizon, but not twice as large, so perhaps you and Dragon04 saw a UFO. Try the phenomina forum.<br />The magnification by the atmosphere is too small to detect with a ruler or stick (so I am told) The 5.5% difference in apparent diameter is just barely detectable by the stick method. I live about 200 miles NE of Tampa, Florida, so I will try the stick method. Likely those who have posted that it is an optical illusion are correct. Neil

 

[majornature]

I saw it too and it is twice as large and sometimes it appears to have that orange-yellow looking glow when observed. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="2" color="#14ea50"><strong><font size="1">We are born.  We live.  We experiment.  We rot.  We die.  and the whole process starts all over again!  Imagine That!</font><br /><br /><br /><img id="6e5c6b4c-0657-47dd-9476-1fbb47938264" style="width:176px;height:247px" src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/14/4/6e5c6b4c-0657-47dd-9476-1fbb47938264.Large.jpg" alt="blog post photo" width="276" height="440" /><br /></strong></font> </div>

 

[heyscottie]

One interesting explanation for the optical illusion runs as follows:<br /><br />We do not perceive objects in the sky to be laid upon an equidistant sphere. Looking around the sky, we tend to think that objects in the sky overhead are closer than those close to the horizon. In short, the brain perceives the "dome" of the sky as being flattened at the top.<br /><br />The moon, which will be the same angular size overhead as it is at the horizon (the "ruler test" outlined above says basically this same thing), will nevertheless appear farther away at the horizon. Since it is the same size, and yet appears farther away, we think of it as being intrinsically larger.<br /><br />That is just one possible explanation for the illusory effect.<br /><br />By the way, I should mention that the effect does not only happen for the moon or sun. Look at a constellation near the horizon sometime vs overhead. It appears MUCH larger when it is nearer the horizon. I find that Orion is a good candidate for illustrating this. So is the Big Dipper.

 

[MeteorWayne]

If you don't have reference handy, I can give you the dates of perigee and apogee. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>