Moon illusion
Sign in to saveoptical illusion which causes the Moon to appear larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- optical illusion
- Image
- Harvest moon.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Moon illusions
- has characteristic
- Moon
- has cause
- refraction
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
When the Moon is close above the horizon, the Moon illusion may cause it to appear larger, and Rayleigh scattering can impart a red color. Two Moons simulated above a skyline, the Moon above the distant buildings looks larger than the Moon above the nearby ones.
The Moon illusion is the optical illusion of the Moon appearing larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky. It has been known since ancient times and recorded by various cultures.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Moon illusion” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.