Was beautiful photo of the moon caught over Chile?”
The huge full moon setting in the high Chilean desert dominates a spectacular new photo caught in Chile just as astronomers closed up their observatory after a long, busy night. The photo, released Monday, shows a dazzling full moon as it sets behind the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile’s Atacama Desert while dawn approaches, coloring the sky with deep hues of blue and purple. The moon was last full on May 27 and appears larger than normal in the photograph, but it is actually an optical illusion. “Contrary to what one may think, this picture is no montage,” wrote officials with the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which operates the VLT, in a statement. “The moon appears large because it is seen close to the horizon and our perception is deceived by the proximity of references on the ground.” [More full moon photos.] The large size of the full moon is known as “the moon illusion.” It is caused by our mind’s attempt to make sense of the moon in relation to earthly objects on the
The huge full moon setting in the high Chilean desert dominates a spectacular new photo caught in Chile just as astronomers closed up their observatory after a long, busy night. The photo, released Monday, shows a dazzling full moon as it sets behind the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile’s Atacama Desert while dawn approaches, coloring the sky with deep hues of blue and purple. The moon was last full on May 27 and appears larger than normal in the photograph, but it is actually an optical illusion. “Contrary to what one may think, this picture is no montage,” wrote officials with the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which operates the VLT, in a statement.
