The Big Moon

[jacey]

Does anyone know of a site that I can view tonights moon from please?  thanks 

[jenstar]

All the newspapers' websites have photos, though the illusion really has to be seen for yourself to work properly.

[MargeB]

Some pics here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4123228.stm

I personally believe that all of the necessary components of the scene are present in a decent photo for the illusion to take place. Landscape scenes do not employ focus or eye convergence cues to work out what is where and how big things are (they are used, for example, in working out where your monitor is and how big it is). The cue used is specifically THAT the moon is present close to the distant landscape, which leads to an impression in consciousness that the moon is larger than it is.

This is achieved of course, by the light from the scene going into your eyes, through the optic nerve, into the back of your brain, to process the scene and call the moon 'larger' than it really is, then pass it to consciousness. It's strange therefore that the other stream, where the same light comes in, goes through your eyes, optic nerve, then up to the upper regions of the brain, in order to interact with things, suffers no such illusion. You can reach out to 'grab' the moon, like any other object, and your hand would size itself up perfectly, since the visual information for action comes from the top of your brain. Which is why some 'blind' people say they can't see a thing, but can interact with objects. Weird, huh?