Moon fooled our eyes

The full moon this week will hang lower in the sky than any other full moon this year, and is a good opportunity to deceive us.

When lying low near the horizon, the moon looks larger than when it is high. But in fact it is just an illusion of illusion, scientists say, and it has nothing to do with any effect of the atmosphere. Instead, it is due to your conception.

And this is the working mechanism of that phenomenon:

Our brains think that everything on the horizon is farther away than the ones above. That's because we're used to seeing clouds near our heads compared to other things on the horizon. In the eyes of thought, the sky is a flat dome.

And taking this dome as a standard, we estimate that things in the horizon (such as the moon) will be farther away, and because in fact it is not farther than when it is above the head, our brain will Stupidly imagine that it is bigger.

If you doubt? Can try this at home.

When the moon begins to grow, hold a small thing like an eraser and compare its size with the moon in the sky. Do it again 2 hours later when the moon is higher.

Or maybe try another way: Take a picture of the moon in two places, then cut, paste and compare.

Another tip: Make a binoculars with rolled up paper, so that the hole is only slightly above the moon when the moon starts to rise. Paste the tube so that its size is fixed, and then repeat the experiment to see if the moon changes in size.

T. An