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Low-Hanging Moon Explained
gollum123 wrote to mention a BBC article which explains the low-hanging moon of the past few nights. From the article:"For the past few nights the moon has appeared larger than many people have seen it for almost 20 years. It is the world's largest optical illusion, and one of its most enduring mysteries. The mystery of the Moon Illusion, witnessed by millions of people this week, has puzzled great thinkers for centuries. There is still no agreed on explaination for why the moon appears bigger when it's on the horizon than when it's high in the night sky."
Good day, gentlemen. As you are no doubt aware, I have perfected a device capable of altering the orbital path of the moon. First of all, I must offer kudos on a most inspired cover story...'illusion' indeed...really, a first rate piece of propagan-da. Of course, you know it cannot last...
You see, gentlemen, things will only get worse...my device, which I've dubbed 'the Lunatrix', will continue destablizing the moon's orbit, drawing it ever closer to our fragile planet. First, abnormally high tidal waves will decimate all costal regions...then, as the tidal influence grows steadily stronger, geological disruptions will occur on a global scale, tearing apart the earth's crust like fresh bread, releasing the liquid-hot mag-ma within. No place on the planet will be safe...civilization as you know it will cease to exist...that is...unless you pay me...
One hundred billion kajillion fafillion dollaaars!!!
<DramaticMusic>
Gentlemen, you have my demands...peace out.
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Duh! Because it's closer!
some guy who got gods powers is trying to get laid... apparently its taking longer than the last guy i saw try this one.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
For the past few nights the moon has appeared larger? Could this open some eyes and increase interest in alternative (Linux, Mac) offerings?
If you bend over with your head between your legs and look at the moon upside down, the illusion disappears. (I'm being serious too!)
That's no moon!
if you moon the moon there will be more moon?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The moon, like a testicle, hangs low in the night sky.
There goes the karma.
Some one on some show said that if you bend over doubled and look through your legs at the moon, no matter where it is in the sky it will appear large as well for the same reason
Dude, you're just begging to have someone mention that you're comparing the moon to your crotch. But I'll let someone else handle that (as it were).
Everyone knows that cameras add an extra 200,000 tons.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Some one on some show said that if you bend over doubled and look through your legs at the moon, no matter where it is in the sky it will appear large as well
That's no moon.
Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
The more you drink...
...the bigger it will seem
20 % alcohol = 20 Bigger moon 40 & alcohol = thats one BIG moon 90 & alcohol = the size of the moon is no longer a concern of yours. You're somewhere else.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
Any attack made by you against this post would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data you have obtained. This post is now the ultimate power in the universe. I suggest we use it.
A blond newlywed was enjoying her honeymoon by staring at the night sky from a Hawaiian mountaintop with her newly betrothed. At one point he asked her which is closer, Texas or the moon.
She thought about it for a moment and then her eyes glittered with a knowing look.
She glanced around dramatically and replied, "Duuuh! Do you *see* Texas?"
-
This joke is intended as humor, no offense to any blondes out there, real or implied.
No blondes were harmed during the creation of this joke.
The Chronic *WHAT* les of Narnia!
Also works with the sun, etc.
Hey you batard I jus ttried this and no wIc an't seewhatIm typing....
Blanche: "Eww! Iris, what's the smell"?
Iris: "Oh... tomhudson posted instructions on Slashdot that were crafted to get less intelligent people to look at the sun. You're smelling their smoking eye sockets".
Blanche: "Oh. I thought that's what was going on, but I wanted to be sure".
Sound FX: [audience laughter from I Love Lucy]
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
it's bug in Matrix. A 2D transform/rendering artefact. Ever noticed a simple static texture for moon, with a black circle occlusion blended, no animation at all?
There you are, staring at me again.
That's only because the thicker atmosphere also magnifies the dime when it's held low to the horizon.
When you hold the dime over your head, the thinner atmosphere (3 ft higher than your head) doesn't magnify it as much.
Now, while holding the dime directly above your head, and watching it carefully, release the dime. You will notice that the dime begins to appears very large as it drops into the thicker atmosphere. This phenomenon is much easier to observe if you use something larger - like, say, a brick.
-- I have monkeys in my pants.
"And if you look at the sun with a telescope or magnifying glass, you can actually see solar flares."
I don't know much about this whole telescope thing your talking about but the magnifying glass is a great idea. Of course you have to make sure that it's in focus or you wont see the fascinating details involved with the flares. Make sure that you hold the magnifying glass at the correct position so that the focal point of the magnifying glass is directly on your cornea. And ignore the smell.
"Truth is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations"
The other way to make the moon smaller is to turn around, bend over, and look at it between your legs.
Yes, it sounds like a prank but it's not. We actually studied this illusion as part of a course dealing with optics and perception in college.