Quote:
Originally Posted by GoNative
The reason the moon appears larger near the horizon than at it's zenith is very well understood, it's simple optics. Near the horizon the light reflected off the moon must travel through more atmosphere to reach you the observer. The atmosphere acts like a lens. So when near the horizon more of the light reflected off the moon is refracted back to you the observer than when it is high in the sky and you can actually see more of the moon and it appears larger.  |
I pulled this info' off Yahoo news. The bit about the reason is not known refers to the moon appearing "unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects". As you point out the first bit about the moon being low on the horizon is well understood.
Thank you for your reply - did you see this eclipse, if so what was it like?