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Brain playing tricks


mce

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I was casually gazing at the Moon the other afternoon through a pair of 10x50s when I noticed that an airliner was on course to intercept it.

It came as a surprise when the plane passed in front of the Moon, and not behind it!

Is this a known optical illusion, or is it just that my head is wired up wrong?

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I guess you are talking about the fact that the plane looked further away, rather than a genuine belief that it should pass behind the moon? As you say, just an optical illusion but not one I've experienced before.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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It's your brain I'm afraid. I love it when the human brain plays a trick on its owner.

My brain can be rather recalcitrant too. The best thing to do is laugh [emoji12]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -

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I look at it like this..

The curvature of the line separating the bright and dark part of the moon gives it a sort of 3D look when using binoculars. So the brain thinks moon is much closer (than it actually is).

The little airplane has no such detail, so the brain doesnt feel its close, just like in case of stars and even moon through naked eyes.

The brain might hence conclude that the moon is closer than the plane.

So your brain is fine I think, unless it was a full moon :D:)

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