[Leica] Full Moon

["David E. Strang" <dstrang@up.net>]

In the discussion on the size of the moon:

>I guess mathimatically the size is the same, but in reality the best time
>to shoot a full moon is as soon as it breaks above the horizon line or very
>shortly thereafter, as that's when it "appears the biggest" making the best
>photo op.

The moon probably has close approaches to the earth at different times of
the year and
these close approaches occur at different parts of the world. The large
apparent size of the moon, like the
occasional sunset where the object seems to be largeer than normal is due to
a phenomena related to
"optical lensing" in the atmosphere. The object viewed at the horizon is
seen as it passes through the greatest
layer of atmosphere (from the viewers perspective). The atmosphere acts like
a lens and magnifies the object's size.

Regards,
Dave Strang
dstrang@up.net