Why Does the Moon Look Huge in Photos?

The only natural satellite of our planet, the Moon, is at least 356 thousand kilometers from the earth, even at its closest point to the Earth. The satellite, which has a diameter of 4 times smaller than our planet, takes its place as a point not very big in the huge sky when we look directly at it.

So, when we look at the photos of the Moon, why does the Moon appear tens of times larger than we normally see? Although many people think that this is due to manipulations on the photo – and this is true for some photos – there is actually a different explanation for this.

Why does the moon look huge in photos?

The fact that the Moon appears larger in photographs is almost entirely due to the techniques applied by the photographer who took the photograph in question. The position of the subject, namely the Moon, and the lens used in the camera are of great importance when taking lunar photos. How Does?

The Moon’s relationship with its surrounding objects is of great importance:

• Both Moons are the same size. But if we only look at the Moon on the right, our consciousness is positioning the Moon larger. The buildings in the image accompany the Moon on the left.

The number one factor that is taken into account in lunar gravity, other than equipment, is the Moon’s position relative to surrounding objects. The position of the Moon relative to surrounding objects causes the human eye to interpret the size of the Moon differently. The moon or any subject may appear smaller if there are large objects around it, but appear larger when placed side by side with smaller objects.

• Ebbinghaus illusion, orange dots the same size.

In fact, this situation also causes the Moon to appear larger on the horizon. In this case, which has been discussed for many years, the Moon can be seen smaller in the sky when alone or next to the clouds that seem larger because they are close to us. But when the Moon is near mountains or any other object on the horizon, it can appear much larger than normal. This is called the ‘Moon illusion’.

The camera makes the magic real:

Moon illusion allows you to make the Moon look bigger even with just your smartphone, while different camera lenses can be used without even needing this illusion. It can help you make the moon look bigger. Lunar photographers prefer high focal length lenses used for long distance shots.

The focal length, expressed as ‘mm’, is one of the most determining factors in photographing and expresses the distance between the area where the lights entering the camera are collected and the sensor where these lights intersect. The image narrows or widens as the distance between the sensor and the intersection area increases.

While cameras with a focal length of at least 300 mm are recommended for many people who will start moon photography, those photos that we see everywhere and make the Moon look huge are usually obtained with lenses with a focal length of more than 600 mm. The difference between low and high focal length lenses can also be seen as follows:

• 160mm / 840mm focal length, In Light of Nature

Cropping a photo is another method:

In addition to the subject’s relationship with the objects around and the camera lens, another tactic used by photographers is actually cropping the photo. By clipping distant objects, both distant objects and the Moon can be increased in size. By clipping objects far from the Moon at a small distance with the Moon, the Moon can be seen much larger. We can show them with a simple example as follows: