Rock and Kaufman (We know that distance information scales disparity among objects along the line of sight. The Moon illusion is an optical illusion which causes the Moon to appear larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky.It has been known since ancient times and recorded by various cultures. Additional work is required to determine how different visual cues influence the exact functional relationship between size and distance in different perceptual regimes.Finally, the results of these experiments are inconsistent with theories that attribute the illusion to micropsia; they are also inconsistent with theories that postulate a default size for the elevated moon, which then determines its perceived distance. McCready (Despite controversy concerning the perceptibility of angular size Taking yet a different approach, Gregory suggests that the size of the horizon moon is scaled by cues to distance (as in apparent distance theories), but there are no distance cues for the elevated moon.
Photographs prove that the Moon is the same width near the horizon as when it's high in the sky, but that's not what we perceive with our eyes. Also, the eye does tend toward a resting focus of about 2 m in a totally empty visual field (Roscoe, however, describes an increase in accommodation when subjects are viewing a luminous and apparently sharp elevated moon. This theory is centered on the idea that when you view the moon at the horizon, you are seeing it in the presence of depth cues such as trees, mountains, and other scenery. You'll see a giant moon rising in the east. Proof of illusion; Possible explanations; Refraction and distance Ⓒ 2020 About, Inc. (Dotdash) — All rights reserved10 Cool Optical Illusions and How Each of Them WorkHow Psychologists Tested Babies' Depth Perception With the Visual CliffWhy Do People Experience Afterimages as an Optical Illusion?How Psychology Explains How Expectations Influence Your PerceptionsHow Figure-Ground Perception Helps Us Distinguish ScenesTry the Negative Photo Illusion With This Fun TrickGestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization and Our Perception of the WorldHow the Color Blue Impacts Moods, Feelings, and Behaviors This new approach emphasizes that the moon illusion for most people begins as an angular size illusion.

The Moon illusion is the name for this trick our brains play on us. Thus it's an illusion rooted in the way our brains process visual information. The opposite is the case, which is consistent with the proposition that the perceptual system responds to the horizon moon as though it were more distant than the elevated moon.The perceived half-distance to the elevated variable moon was approximately 8.6 m, more than twice the distance at which the same moon is judged to be half its original size. Cameras don't see it, but our eyes do. This theory is centered on the idea that when you view the moon at the horizon, you are seeing it in the presence of According to this theory we do not perceive angular sizes: By default, that means the horizon moon and zenith moon look the same angular size, so the phrase "looks larger" can …
But there is no evidence that this classic effect produces a sufficiently large difference in size to account for the moon illusion.

As it travels a longer path, more of the shorter, bluer wavelengths of light are scattered away, leaving more of the longer, redder wavelengths. For example, 'pinch' the moon between your thumb and forefinger or view it through a cardboard tube, which hides the foreground terrain. “Moons” were luminous disks produced on an IBM ThinkPad flat panel display mounted in a stereoscopic optical apparatus as depicted in Fig. Thus it's an illusion rooted in the way our brains process visual information. In that case the moon takes on a default size, which happens to be smaller than that of the horizon moon (The notion that perceived angular size of the moon determines its perceived distance is diametrically opposed to the apparent distance theory. These results confirm How do we reconcile these results with the fact that subjects tend to describe the larger-appearing horizon moon as closer and not as farther? As in the case of geometrical illusions printed on paper, sometimes these reports are at odds with some aspects of their perceptions, although consistent with other aspects.

In the case of the variable elevated moon, the corresponding distance was 8.62 m. Thus, the horizon moon was placed approximately 4.2 times farther away than the elevated variable moon. As stated earlier, the apparent distance theory predicts that a smaller disparity would be needed to bisect the distance between the subject and the horizon reference moon than that between the subject and the elevated reference moon. The terms, equations and diagrams of this new approach have appeared only in refereed journals, in two "moon illusion" books (1989, 2002) and in only two or three websites (including "The Moon Illusion Explained.")