Big Moon

scargill

does this apply to Ireland too - presume so. Anyone know the time of the best effect ?

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13375781,00.html

Flukey

It does apply here, but as it says, it is nothing more than an illusion, visible whenever the Moon is low in the sky.

scargill

i know its an illusion but was just wondering if there is an optimum time to see it at in the midlands.

scargill

ok - where was it so ? no moon to be seen in midlands last night ?

Flukey

Behind the clouds?

It was half covered by trees for me, but I have seen the effect before. Look at the moon any time shortly after it rises and you will see it. Last night was the full moon, but watch again tonight and it will probably be more or less the same.

Saruman

AFAIK its not just illusion due to it being closer to the horizon.. its also has to do with the atmosphere.. i think it can be magnified slightly at certain angles and certain conditions. Its the same with the sun. Looks bigger when its lower down. There is more atmosphere to get through and this is the same reason its not as hot when its lower down.

combination of both i think.

I say its not ONLY optical illusion for this reason. If you look at it through binoculars it IS bigger even though you cant see the horizon. However its no where near as clear as it is when higher up!

disillusioned

The moon was totally spectacular in Dulblin last night. It was soooo big and soooooo low and sooooooo cool.

Saruman

Think it would be cool to see an eclipse of the moon when its that low... we could have a blood red giant moon!!

disillusioned

now that would be cool sight

sweet-rasmus

i was lookin to see the full moon lookin huge and all, but trees hid it. nooooo! i even went out for a walk, at midnight, to try to find it, but.... trees and houses hid it from me. very disappointing!

saz

entropi

Have been wondering about this phenomenon for quite a few years now. When i was younger i could SWEAR i seen a massively oversized moon in the sky.. i mean it looked really close... i always doubted this fact and dismissed it as a dream. Could it be that i seen this happen at the time ?

Flukey

As we have pointed out, it is only when it is low in the sky and you have things to compare it against that it looks big. There is very little actual difference in the size we see the Moon as.

whyulittle

May only be an illusion, but it still looks class!

Flukey

Yes, seeing a low moon when it is full can be spectacular alright.

MrJoeSoap

Does anyone know of a site that can tell when the next low moon will be visible in Irish skies?

Cheers.

whyulittle

I only spotted it at 11:30, but the moon looks to be very low down tonight.

Flukey

It is still tracking a fairly low course this month too. I was doing a little star and moongazing earlier and it didn't gain much height during the hour or so that I was doing my observations.