Why does the moon look larger when it's near the horizon?

[VectraMan]

The reason it looks bigger is because the moon is falling to earth. Dooomed!

[roger rabbit]

it looks bigger through the bottom of a beer bottle I always find and I dont normally hold my beer vertically, unless I'm on Venus

[Paddy]

Wasn't this on the telly the other day? It's an optical illusion.

People also over estimate how big it looks i.e. do you need a £1 coin or a 5p to cover it. In fact a pea at arms length will do it.

Just tried a pea at arms length and wet my shirt.

[EternalOptimist]

Isn't it because it's nearer to the ground?

No. the moon is on a long string. BUT , (this is the catch) it's an elastic string. Therefore the moon whizzes round in a non-circular orbit. Sometimes it's close, sometimes it aint. The fact that it's tied to the Earth is where the term tides comes from. The moon and the tides. They are connected you see.
Sometimes the moon is full, sometimes its harvest, sometimes it's blue(like my suede shoes) sometimes it wanes. If it wasn't for the moon JF Kennedy would not have been shot.


Alchohol - it's a bastard

[wendigo100]

Isn't it because it's nearer to the ground?

[CaribbeanPirate]

I remember - not quiet the other day, but an issue of 'The Sky at Night' when they were talking about an eclipse of the sun.

When the moon is overhead there are few clues as to it's distance but near the horizon there are far more.

[DimPrawn]

I didn't know it was on telly. How topical am I?

It has little to do with refraction and a lot to do with our crappy, easily confused brains.

[Emperor Dalek]

Something to do with refraction of the light coming from the moon I guess. Light reflected from the moon would pass through a much thicker layer of atmosphere when it is near the horizon than when it is overhead.

[CaribbeanPirate]

Wasn't this on the telly the other day? It's an optical illusion.

People also over estimate how big it looks i.e. do you need a £1 coin or a 5p to cover it. In fact a pea at arms length will do it.

[DimPrawn]

Anyone know why the summer moon looks massively (almost spookily) large compared to when it's overhead?

No cheating on Google please.