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Today's useless fact - Why does a full moon look larger when it rises than when it is overhead? After we carefully studied the links in our Moon category, we grieve to report that there is no single satisfactory explanation for this storied phenomenon, otherwise known as the "moon illusion." The apparent size difference in the moon was noted in the 7th century B.C. by Chinese and Greek astronomers, and has been puzzling heavy intellectual hitters ever since: Aristotle, Ptolemy, Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci, Johannes Kepler, Rene Descartes, and Karl Gauss. As of last count, there are at least eight competing theories and one whole book devoted to the moon illusion. What do we know as fact? The moon illusion is a psychological, not a physical phenomenon. The moon always subtends (i.e., takes up) an angle of 0.5 degrees in the sky, so something must be going on between our retina and our cortex. The more popular theories have involved comparisons with buildings and other objects on the horizon, differences between apparent size when looking horizontally and looking vertically, and the physical position of eyeballs in the cranium. The first theory seems to have the most popular support, even though the moon illusion occurs on water as well as land. Check our Moon category for more... ~~~~~~~~~~ Hello. I am the Happiness Fairy. I've sprinkled happy dust on you. So Smile! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ Check out Election 2004 for up-to-date election news, plus voter tools and more! http://special.msn.com/msn/election2004.armx Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/E-MAIL_TRIVIA/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
