# The moon's perceived size? **URL:** \ **Category:** random\ **Created:** [June 14, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352 "2008-06-14T23:10:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Iamthejuggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Iamthejuggler](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Iamthejuggler)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/21 "2008-06-16T14:07:01Z")
Wow. This thread was a very interesting read. WTB Glos’ brain. ---
**Author:** ![BS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BS1](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/BS1)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/22 "2008-06-16T14:22:24Z")
> I’m still sticking with magic as the answer to all questions that require at least 3 paragraphs of explanation… I’m Down ---
**Author:** ![fester8542](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a183cd/32.png) [@fester8542](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/fester8542)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/23 "2008-06-16T14:37:55Z")
![](http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6118/elephantsvd4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Iamthejuggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Iamthejuggler](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Iamthejuggler)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/24 "2008-06-16T14:44:55Z")
There should have been an option “I am”. ---
**Author:** ![DanontheMoon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/danonthemoon/32/7436_2.png) [@DanontheMoon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/DanontheMoon)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/25 "2008-06-16T14:59:58Z")
@Fester - wow, that’s ‘too stupid to live’ stupid. :smh: ---
**Author:** ![jokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/97f17d/32.png) [@jokun](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/jokun)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/26 "2008-06-16T15:52:52Z")
If he doesn’t like the idea of using his thumb to compare, or still insists it looks bigger, bend a paper clip so the two ends match the top and bottom of the moon when held at arm’s length. Have him compare the size when it’s at the horizon and when it’s high up in the sky. Difficult to argue with that. ---
**Author:** ![jakattak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@jakattak](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/jakattak)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/27 "2008-06-16T16:19:44Z")
> [@Ohls;2342863](#): > > I was having a discussion earlier today with a freind about how the moon always seem to be bigger when its setting… If you mean on any given night that the moon appears large when near the horizon, there’s some consensus that it’s simply a matter of perception. Here’s a site that explains (really, really brief mentions) of some theories surrounding it: [http://how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-look-gigantic-rising-on-the-horizon-but-not-nearly-so-large-overhead/#more-19](http://how-come.net/2007/12/18/why-does-the-moon-look-gigantic-rising-on-the-horizon-but-not-nearly-so-large-overhead/#more-19) I remember discussing this very issue in an astronomy course in college. The way we verified (to ourselves) that it was perception was by watching the moon rise one night and holding our thumbnail over/next to the moon, then doing the same when the moon was higher in the southern sky. Both times, the moon appeared the same size compared to our thumbnail. When you mentioned the elliptical orbit of the moon, that is known as looming. At it’s closest point in orbit, the moon is approximately 7% closer to us then at it’s furthest point, but it’s not something that happens during the course of 1 evening. This is an event where in the fall you might observe the moon looks larger than it did in the summer. Most people never notice this difference. ---
**Author:** ![actionAction](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/actionaction/32/3987_2.png) [@actionAction](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/actionAction)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/28 "2008-06-18T18:53:58Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080617/sc\_space/seeahugemoonillusionwednesday](http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080617/sc_space/seeahugemoonillusionwednesday) I knew Yahoo! was trolling Kirupa looking for stories ---
**Author:** ![grimdeath](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/grimdeath/32/7124_2.png) [@grimdeath](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/grimdeath)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/29 "2008-06-18T19:17:25Z")
Glos everytime I read your posts I think I get brain damage ■■■■ your smartness I wish my brain was half as good as yours. Guess I gotta stop playing videogames… **[SIZE=“7”]NAH[/SIZE]** :lol: ---
**Author:** ![Ohls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/59ef9b/32.png) [@Ohls](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Ohls)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352/30 "2008-06-19T05:33:33Z")
> [@motionman95;2345119](#): > > He’s a supercomputer that load info from Wikipedia. Nothing big. 😏 I beg to differ. Any fool can copy/paste numbers from wikipedia. It’s a different thing to interpret information, draw conclusions from it, and then present it in such a way that non-magic believers can understand it :P. Glos isn’t a storage device, he’s just got a whole lot of computing power :rd:. [Previous page](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/the-moons-perceived-size/263352.md?page=1)