(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

The moon out there is as big as a penny, and somewhat copper coloured. My American flatmates, especially the ones from the no-drinking and modesty rule college are discussing whether or not this means the apocalypse.

Personally, I think

(a): if that's supposed to be blood coloured, I'm not impressed. God, however, is not an artistic slouch. This suggests there's some other reason.

(b): I'm not going to get really worried unless a wolf eats the sun...

Comments

[aervir.livejournal.com]

My American flatmates, especially the ones from the no-drinking and modesty rule college are discussing whether or not this means the apocalypse.

O RLY? SRSLY?!?

I'm not going to get really worried unless a wolf eats the sun...

About two weeks ago, when it wouldn't stop snowing, I was convinced that the Fimbulwinter had come...

[tree_and_leaf]

O RLY? SRSLY?!?

Fraid so... Course, I'm not sure how serious they are. I was a bit scared I might find out, so I retired upstairs, where I am working.

Er, right, sure I am.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Well, never ask a question the answer to which you might not want to hear. :)

And 'course you're working. Just like me, who's only having a quick look at her e-mails. (I.e. I logged in almost two hours ago. Eeek!)

[harriet-wimsey.livejournal.com]

The Apocalypse? I'd be a bit more inclined to think, "Boy, God sure invented pretty colors!"

Are they Wheaton folks or something else?

[tree_and_leaf]

Biola. A disitnction without a difference, as Lord Peter would say.

And you're right: it is a very pretty colour :)

Though I did have a fit of geekery and think 'Hm, might be scatter off atmospheric dust (cf harvest moon), what could be causing it...

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

Mostly it is thought to be the result of size constancy i.e. it looks bigger near the horizon because we attempt to scale it against trees and houses.

Then there is the forthcoming apocalypse, obviously. No, no, I mean equinox!! Hahaha.

[neutrino-cannon.livejournal.com]

The moon out there is as big as a penny



The moon doesn't change its solid arc as viewed from the Earth to any significant degree. That it looks larger when closer to the ground isn't atmospheric distortion, as is sometimes claimed; it's purely an optical illusion.

I suppose this is a good thing; optical illusions are more personal than atmospheric phenomena. The wind is the result of impersonal temperature gradients, while an optical illusion is a quirk related very much to the human condition and the quirks of brain circuitry. Funny that for millenia people have tried to anthropomorphize the wind as a thinking, feeling god whilst they have tried to write off optical illusions as unimportant parlor tricks.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, but the colour must be atmospheric distortion linked?

Not that I know anything about it :)

[neutrino-cannon.livejournal.com]

You are correct. The explanation I'm familiar with is that it's the same reason the sky is blue: Shorter wavelengths are preferentially scattered, which leaves behind the longer reds and oranges. This effect is most noticable when the moon is low in the sky (which is also when it appears largest) and transmits light through more layers of atmosphere.

I've never heard of an optical illusion that distorts colors, save after images. They may exist though...

(begins to scour google)

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

A few years I was in Denmark, driving around the island with a friend one pleasant April evening. Having been terribly excited by seeing a tiny cliff (Denmark doesn’t do cliffs) we crested a (small) hill at dusk and saw ... something. It was enormous. Not the merely large moon of a month or so ago that was meant to be terribly impressive. Not the indifferent copper of an average harvest moon. This thing was the size of a dinner plate held at arm’s length. It was a giant space hopper in the sky. And it was just over the next hill. We actually sat and stared at it for some minutes before deciding that it wasn’t a weather balloon being launched and was actually the moon. The words ‘flying saucer’ might not have been uttered aloud, but they were definitely thought for a moment, and the experience was actually quite scary because this thing was so extraordinary that the default ‘It’s the moon and an optical illusion’ just didn’t work.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

(b): I'm not going to get really worried unless a wolf eats the sun...


A very reasonable attitude! I think I'd be pretty concerned if I saw a wolf eating the sun! And no, I don't think flapping at it with a dishcloth and shouting "shoo!" would help much!

Also, what's a "modesty rule"? Sounds very sinister and patriarchal!

[tree_and_leaf]

I am... not entirely sure, but I think it means no crop tops or minis.

Doesn't seem to apply to blokes, oddly enough.