I think that the main factor is that you take photo that captures a wide angle and then view it on a relatively small screen, which doesn’t take up as much of your field of view as the original captured image did.
If you had a bigger display and a right distance, it would take up the same amount of your field of view and would feel bigger.
Though probably part of that is also that you feel/know that the moon is far away, so it must be actually huuuge, but the screen is closer, so it doesn’t trigger the same awe, on the subconscious level
Oo, this is one of my favorites - it’s called Moon Illusion, and we don’t know why it happens! There’s theories, but none have yet borne out as conclusive.
one other factor is dynamic range of the scene, where we can see some details in the moon with naked eye, but in the photo without heavy post processing it will basically look like white circle, if you also want to have any other details in the scene other than the moon
Even then, the moon is just bananas small. Half a degree wide. The right display at the right distance would still make the moon look like a little speck. On your phone 12 inches from your face, a life-size picture of the moon would be 1/10 of an inch wide. Just tiny.
It’s an optical illusion. When the moon is low in the sky your brain has more stuff to compare it to so it looks bigger. The truth is it’s always (basically) the same size in the sky, which is approximately the size of the hole in a sheet of notebook paper held at arm’s length.
I must be immune to this illusion because I’ve never seen it. The moon always looks about moon-sized, no matter where it is in the sky. And I don’t mean that as a joke where sometimes it looks like a big moon and sometimes like a small moon; I don’t think it’s apparent size changes much at all, without needing any of the tricks to prove it’s still takes up about the same amount of space in our vision.
Though I’m not aware of any of the other apparent size illusions that don’t fool my brain, like the two curved shapes or lines with arrows inward or outward. I was just always a bit baffled at anyone saying “the moon is actually the same size all the time”, and thought “no shit, is anyone saying it isn’t?” Turns out they were, I guess.
So why does it do that? I know it’s something with the lens size but what specifically?
I think that the main factor is that you take photo that captures a wide angle and then view it on a relatively small screen, which doesn’t take up as much of your field of view as the original captured image did.
If you had a bigger display and a right distance, it would take up the same amount of your field of view and would feel bigger.
Though probably part of that is also that you feel/know that the moon is far away, so it must be actually huuuge, but the screen is closer, so it doesn’t trigger the same awe, on the subconscious level
Oo, this is one of my favorites - it’s called Moon Illusion, and we don’t know why it happens! There’s theories, but none have yet borne out as conclusive.
one other factor is dynamic range of the scene, where we can see some details in the moon with naked eye, but in the photo without heavy post processing it will basically look like white circle, if you also want to have any other details in the scene other than the moon
https://noai.duckduckgo.com/?q=dynamic+range+photography
there is also phenomenon called telephoto compression often used with the moon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephoto_compression
the telephoto thing just looks like we’re about to die or something
Dynamic range might play a role indeed.
I don’t “Telephoto compression” really applies here and I’m pretty sure that photo comparison you included is edited
you mean the one with three moons? indeed it is, there are no three moons in the wild…
I meant that the size of the moon in these photos is edited and the actual effect would not look like that, so it’s misleading
well looking at the missing reflection on the water, you might be right. nevertheless, the effect is real and the image illustrates it well.
https://alphauniverse.com/stories/behind-the-shot-a-super-telephoto-view-of-the-moon-behind-one-world-trade-from-25-miles-away/
Even then, the moon is just bananas small. Half a degree wide. The right display at the right distance would still make the moon look like a little speck. On your phone 12 inches from your face, a life-size picture of the moon would be 1/10 of an inch wide. Just tiny.
If you hold your thumb out at arm’s length in front of you, your thumb nail is roughly the same apparent size as the moon. It’s tiny
It’s an optical illusion. When the moon is low in the sky your brain has more stuff to compare it to so it looks bigger. The truth is it’s always (basically) the same size in the sky, which is approximately the size of the hole in a sheet of notebook paper held at arm’s length.
I must be immune to this illusion because I’ve never seen it. The moon always looks about moon-sized, no matter where it is in the sky. And I don’t mean that as a joke where sometimes it looks like a big moon and sometimes like a small moon; I don’t think it’s apparent size changes much at all, without needing any of the tricks to prove it’s still takes up about the same amount of space in our vision.
Though I’m not aware of any of the other apparent size illusions that don’t fool my brain, like the two curved shapes or lines with arrows inward or outward. I was just always a bit baffled at anyone saying “the moon is actually the same size all the time”, and thought “no shit, is anyone saying it isn’t?” Turns out they were, I guess.