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Does this happen to everyone? Because i don't see this effect for the skyline, cloud and monochrome diagram picture in the article (despite the captions), only

Does this happen to everyone? Because i don't see this effect for the skyline, cloud and monochrome diagram picture in the article (despite the captions), only a tiny bit in the Ebbinghaus diagram.

tristanj 4y ago
It depends on how far away the camera is. The further away the camera is, the more visible the effect. The moon illusion effect is quite visible in this photo of the Manhattan skyline, taken from 15 miles away in West Orange, New Jersey. https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/r3PYEwue-SKDCmd_v7HgzEF2DbE=/1200x763/media/img/photo/2012/05/supermoon-2012/s01_RTR31PUL/original.jpg https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/r3PYEwue-SKDCmd_v7HgzEF2...
- shrx 4y ago
  That's not really what the illusion is about, it's just perspective compression.
  - dwringer 4y ago
    AFAIU perspective compression is a key element of the illusion - when the moon gets closer to the horizon/treeline/skyline, our mind creates a sort of vignette with limited FOV for perceiving it, in which the relative size of the moon appears larger (because our focus has become inadvertently and subconsciously narrower).
cassianoleal 4y ago
I don't think it can "happen" to someone and not the person next to them, i.e. I don't think each individual observer sees it differently. I have seen what the article calls a harverst moon a few times. Every time everyone I asked from the same city has also seen it. I've seen it on the news, captured by photo and video cameras, so I'm pretty confident it's as optical as using lenses to zoom into things.
- exitb 4y ago
  Oh, it's definitely just an illusion. You can take a suggestive picture of it, if that's your intention, but in fact if you took a couple pictures with a digital camera, few hours apart, you'd note that the Moon has the exact same pixel width in the pictures, regardless of it position in relation to the horizon. Moreover, the near-horizon pictures would actually show a lower pixel height, due to the atmospheric distortion.
pengaru 4y ago
It isn't happening for me at all in the examples. In the same page they clearly state that the full moon's size varies due to its eccentric orbit. We all know the moon is sometimes clearly larger and that's the reason, this illusion stuff strikes me as mostly subtle b.s.
- thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
  It should vary over the course of the month, but not a few hours. Many people experience the feeling that the moon is bigger when it’s near the horizon. It’s a feeling. You might not personally experience it. That’s OK. But other people report it, so unless they’re lying, the illusion exists empirically.
- lm28469 4y ago
  > It isn't happening for me at all in the examples. You mean looking at the images on the wiki page ? Yeah it doesn't work for me either, seeing it in real life works every single time on me though
red369 4y ago
Just my thoughts on the illusion in case it's helpful. I saw this illusion tonight when I suddenly saw the moon behind the top of a distant tree. I think the suddenness adds to the illusion, and the explanation of the brain's image processing reasoning about the size because it is compared to something distant feels right. It does not feel just a small amount bigger - at least double the usual size. Even as I looked at it, the illusion weakened. It was obscured by trees and building as I walked towards it, and again I saw it rise again over a building a little way off. The illusion repeated, though not as strong. Much later I saw the moon in the sky, and it looked normal size. I do not have the illusion anywhere near as strongly when I look at that skyline photo, although I can sort of see what they are trying to describe. I think many photos of the moon zoom in, greatly increasing the apparent size, and I don't think this is the same as the illusion, although in a way, comparing the moon to a building which is known to be large may contribute to the illusion we perceive when seeing it in real life (not in a photo).

Does this happen to everyone? Because i don't see this effect for the skyline, cloud and monochrome diagram picture in the article (despite the captions), only a tiny bit in the Ebbinghaus diagram.

tristanj 4y ago

It depends on how far away the camera is. The further away the camera is, the more visible the effect. The moon illusion effect is quite visible in this photo of the Manhattan skyline, taken from 15 miles away in West Orange, New Jersey. https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/r3PYEwue-SKDCmd_v7HgzEF2DbE=/1200x763/media/img/photo/2012/05/supermoon-2012/s01_RTR31PUL/original.jpg https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/r3PYEwue-SKDCmd_v7HgzEF2...

shrx 4y ago
That's not really what the illusion is about, it's just perspective compression.
- dwringer 4y ago
  AFAIU perspective compression is a key element of the illusion - when the moon gets closer to the horizon/treeline/skyline, our mind creates a sort of vignette with limited FOV for perceiving it, in which the relative size of the moon appears larger (because our focus has become inadvertently and subconsciously narrower).

cassianoleal 4y ago

I don't think it can "happen" to someone and not the person next to them, i.e. I don't think each individual observer sees it differently. I have seen what the article calls a harverst moon a few times. Every time everyone I asked from the same city has also seen it. I've seen it on the news, captured by photo and video cameras, so I'm pretty confident it's as optical as using lenses to zoom into things.

exitb 4y ago
Oh, it's definitely just an illusion. You can take a suggestive picture of it, if that's your intention, but in fact if you took a couple pictures with a digital camera, few hours apart, you'd note that the Moon has the exact same pixel width in the pictures, regardless of it position in relation to the horizon. Moreover, the near-horizon pictures would actually show a lower pixel height, due to the atmospheric distortion.

pengaru 4y ago

It isn't happening for me at all in the examples. In the same page they clearly state that the full moon's size varies due to its eccentric orbit. We all know the moon is sometimes clearly larger and that's the reason, this illusion stuff strikes me as mostly subtle b.s.

thatjoeoverthr 4y ago
It should vary over the course of the month, but not a few hours. Many people experience the feeling that the moon is bigger when it’s near the horizon. It’s a feeling. You might not personally experience it. That’s OK. But other people report it, so unless they’re lying, the illusion exists empirically.
lm28469 4y ago
> It isn't happening for me at all in the examples. You mean looking at the images on the wiki page ? Yeah it doesn't work for me either, seeing it in real life works every single time on me though

red369 4y ago

Just my thoughts on the illusion in case it's helpful. I saw this illusion tonight when I suddenly saw the moon behind the top of a distant tree. I think the suddenness adds to the illusion, and the explanation of the brain's image processing reasoning about the size because it is compared to something distant feels right. It does not feel just a small amount bigger - at least double the usual size. Even as I looked at it, the illusion weakened. It was obscured by trees and building as I walked towards it, and again I saw it rise again over a building a little way off. The illusion repeated, though not as strong. Much later I saw the moon in the sky, and it looked normal size. I do not have the illusion anywhere near as strongly when I look at that skyline photo, although I can sort of see what they are trying to describe. I think many photos of the moon zoom in, greatly increasing the apparent size, and I don't think this is the same as the illusion, although in a way, comparing the moon to a building which is known to be large may contribute to the illusion we perceive when seeing it in real life (not in a photo).