Althouse: The moon will hit your eye like a big pizza pie.

December 12, 2008

The moon will hit your eye like a big pizza pie.

Tonight.

34 comments:

Palladian said...: "It will appear largest as it rises and sets, but this is a psychological illusion, Dr Kukula said.

"When it's close to the horizon, our brain interprets it as being bigger than it actually is, this is called the moon illusion," he said."

Moon Illusion is the name of my new synthesizer and Hammond organ based Prog rock band.

"The size may be striking when it's near the horizon," said Robert Massey of the UK Royal Astronomical Society."

Sounds like my typical experience in bed with guys.

"However, he cautioned against expecting too much."

That's the same caution I issued to my date last night.

It's good general advice in life as well.; 12/12/08, 12:08 PM
AllenS said...: That's amore!; 12/12/08, 12:14 PM
Tibore said...: All this means is that people in my town will be howling at it all night. So much for sleep...; 12/12/08, 12:28 PM
George M. Spencer said...: In the remake of the movie "The Time Machine," the moon breaks apart in 2037, and chunks of it destroy the World Trade Center.

The movie's fall 2001 release was delayed until 2002, so those scenes could be deleted.; 12/12/08, 12:30 PM
Methadras said...: I only care about The Dark Side of the Moon.; 12/12/08, 12:36 PM
Simon said...: It's an interesting thing, but couldn't the BBC possibly hire some competent staff writers? What is it with these little provincial media outfits being totally unable to hire people who can convey information in concise and lively prose?; 12/12/08, 12:40 PM
Wince said...: Isn't that increase in proximity about the distance the Apollo missions traveled in an hour at top speed on their trip to the moon and back?

That must have been real trippy!; 12/12/08, 12:44 PM
Tibore said...: "Isn't that increase in proximity about the distance the Apollo missions traveled in an hour at top speed on their trip to the moon and back?

That must have been real trippy!"

Yeah, but aside from the initial acceleration, they really didn't feel the speed. Outside of acceleration, none of us does. For example, every being on Earth is currently hurtling through space at over 67,000 miles per hour.

Not to diminish the experience... I'm just saying that after the liftoff acceleration, the speed alone just couldn't have induced any kind of trippy sensation to the astronauts. But in fairness, the idea of travelling that fast relative to Earth is a cool concept. Jets only move at around 500MPH, and those seem fast to folks like us used to car-like speeds.

As an aside, if someone found a way to stop the planet dead in its tracks, we'd all be a huge, sloppy mess. Imagine that acceleration.; 12/12/08, 12:53 PM
MadisonMan said...: I agree with Simon: wretched prose. And why can't they use a simple term like perigee?

If you want to convince yourself that the moon being big on the horizon is an optical illusion, take a picture of it. You'll see a tiny tiny moon in your picture. Pictures in the image are smaller than they appear.; 12/12/08, 12:56 PM
ricpic said...: The Moon Is Blue

Take a backseat Cage
To Cher who's in a rage,
She summoned up Dino
But the moon paged Page.; 12/12/08, 12:57 PM
kjbe said...: It looked great over the University lights, this morning before 7...; 12/12/08, 1:24 PM
rhhardin said...: Never look directly at the moon.; 12/12/08, 1:28 PM
traditionalguy said...: Is there any scientific study on Lunacy? That is to say any increase in people losing control and showing-off abnormal behavior during the time of a full moon. This could be a reason for Gov. Blag's "indecision" on a Senatorial appointment. That lets Obama's people off the hook. This Lunacy effect may well have been compounded by the Gov's eating twinkies.; 12/12/08, 1:37 PM
Christy said...: "Do you not know that the moon is nothing more than a circumabulating aphrodisiac divinely subsidized to provoke the world into a rising birthrate?" Christopher Fry The Lady's Not for Burning; 12/12/08, 1:51 PM
Wince said...: Tibore,

I wasn't thinking about the g-force sensation of acceleration, but the noticable growth in perceived size of the object due to the rate of approach.; 12/12/08, 2:01 PM
Susan said...: It's Cosmo's Moon! La
bella luna.; 12/12/08, 2:16 PM
George M. Spencer said...: When you were mine, the world was mine,
And fate constantly smiled.
Now in its place I have to face,
A pillow of tears, all through the years...

Hit the top 10 in 1939; 12/12/08, 2:30 PM
wgh said...: The title makes me think of Dean Martin, which makes me think of that infomercial peddling videos of the Dean Martin Show, which makes me think of those late night infomercials selling CD collections that feature all those rare performance clips that absolutely glue me to the TV through a good three or four cycles whenever I stumble across them even if it's hosted by Bowzer.; 12/12/08, 2:55 PM
blake said...: "Do you want the moon, Mary?"
...
"Seriously, let me know soon, 'cause it's going to be a lot harder to lasso in a few hours."; 12/12/08, 3:18 PM
Jeremy said...: Moon moon,
someone said that you're a piece of paper
A piece of paper jusr a pasted on the sky
moon moon
I've a hunch that you're a giant ball of rock
a milion miles from me an all the people in my town

Moon moon
Someone said that you're a bright spot
A bright spot spot light beaming in my eye
moon moon
Ain't it so that you're just a reflection for
a light that gleaming off a giant ball of burning fire

- The Blow; 12/12/08, 3:28 PM
Original Mike said...: It's a little known fact that if you squint real hard, you can just make out the American flag planted on its surface.; 12/12/08, 3:35 PM
Palladian said...: "Is there any scientific study on Lunacy? That is to say any increase in people losing control and showing-off abnormal behavior during the time of a full moon."

Full Moon Effect On Behavior Minimal, Studies Say.

Minimal, id est inconclusive.; 12/12/08, 4:08 PM
chickelit said...: Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.

The Wolf Man (1941); 12/12/08, 4:14 PM
Titusisverytired said...: This is good news.

I was going to go out tonight and sling my pussy so this sounds like good Karma.

Hi Palladian, giggle, giggle, bows head, looks up at you longingly.; 12/12/08, 4:15 PM
chickelit said...: blake wrote: 'Do you want the moon, Mary?'
...
'Seriously, let me know soon, 'cause it's going to be a lot harder to lasso in a few hours.'

Obscure cross reference:

For the moon you keep shootin',
Throw your rope up in the air,
For the kids you stay together
You nap 'em and you slap 'em in a highchair,
All you ever wanted was someone to take care of ya,
All you're ever losin' is a little mascara; 12/12/08, 4:40 PM
Unknown said...: My 3-year-old recently decided that the moon is the stars' mommy.

I love that.; 12/12/08, 4:42 PM
Paddy O said...: This post needs a link to today's astronomy picture of the day, which is my browser start page.; 12/12/08, 4:56 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: My barn burned down
Now I can see the moon; 12/12/08, 5:07 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Hey, that's no moon!; 12/12/08, 5:31 PM
Original Mike said...: This post needs a link to today's astronomy picture of the day, which is my browser start page.

Mine too, Paddy O.; 12/12/08, 5:51 PM
JohnAnnArbor said...: Here's the relevant astronomy picture of the day, showing the moon changing apparent size and angle over a month.; 12/12/08, 7:31 PM
Anonymous said...: arrggghhh...clouds!; 12/12/08, 8:08 PM
Alan said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/12/08, 10:46 PM
joyce said...: http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Bill-Davis-moon12-11-08_1229128370.jpg

This one is my favorite since we were just there in June. Doesn't look like they have received much rain since then; 12/13/08, 8:44 AM