• Undearius@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    it’s hard to tell visually that the moon is larger or smaller, unless you do a direct comparison like this

    This is comparing the extremes of the size difference, too. It’s closer to only a 5% difference when comparing an average full moon to a supermoon.

    • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      5% or 10% bigger is a lot more than nothing. I’m more surprised that the difference is so much when saying it’s overhyped.

      • Undearius@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        An 11% increase of something small is miniscule.

        The actual apparent size difference between the minimum and maximum size of the moon is 1/15th of a single degree in the night sky.

        • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          And yet a 10% increase in the moons actual circumference would be a change of more than 1,000km.

          Idk it’s a well known illusion that the moon can appear or “feel” bigger than it actually is when measured. Planetariums apparently project it larger (1degree instead of 0.5) in order to seem appropriate.