Now close the eye in the tube and open your other eye.
#Blood moon supermoon midautumn festival how to
The Moon Illusion: How to See Through Itĭon’t believe your eyes? Here’s how to reduce the Moon from enormous to ordinary!įind a paper tube, like the kind that holds paper towels.Ĭlose one eye and look through the tube at the enlarged Moon. In contrast, when the Moon is directly overhead, its light doesn’t need to travel through as many air particles and the blue wavelengths are able to reach our eyes. Thus, to us, the bluish hues are filtered out and the Moon takes on an orange tinge! Because of this, the light that’s being reflected off of a horizon-hugging Moon has to travel a farther distance-and through more particles of air-to reach your eyes.īy the time we perceive this light, the shorter wavelengths of light (the “blue” ones) have been scattered by the air, leaving only the longer wavelengths (the “red” ones) to reach our eyes. When the Moon is low in the sky, it is farther away from you than when it is directly overhead. This is where Earth’s atmosphere comes into play. When the Moon appears extra-large near the horizon, you may also notice that it seems to be more orange or red in color.
How does the Moon illusion differ from a “supermoon”? Read up on the supermoon so as not to confuse the two! Why Does the Moon Appear Orange When Low in the Sky? With nothing to compare the Moon to, it will look a lot smaller. Next time you notice a gigantic Moon on the horizon, look again when the Moon is higher up. Your brain compares the size of the Moon to the trees, buildings, or other reference points, and suddenly, the Moon looks massive! When the Moon is high overhead, it is dwarfed by the vast hemisphere of the heavens and appears to our eyes as a small disk in the sky.īy contrast, when the Moon is low, it is viewed in relation to earthly objects, such as chimneys or trees, whose size and shape provide scale. Many people assume that this common effect is caused by our atmosphere magnifying the image, but the explanation is far simpler: But it’s really just the result of a trick that your brain is playing. The Moon looks especially large shortly after it rises, when it’s still touching the horizon.
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