The Comprehensive Analysis And Experimental Verification On Moon Illusion

Moon illusion is a phenomenon that the moon seems larger at the near horizon than at zenith. The reason of Moon illusion exist sharp discrepancies, which is maybe yielded by the real physical phenomena or the illusion attributed to observers. Some theories, whose evidences are mainly from Physics such as the earth-moon distance, light refraction, atmospheric density, the brightness and luster of the moon, etc., consider it as physical phenomenon and false illusion. But other theories, such as Apparent Distance Theory, Angle-of-regard Theory and Visual Angle Illusion Theory, regard it as real illusion and present plenty of corresponding evidences.We thought that the physical process and psychological process during moon perception were misunderstood in the debate, and the process of moon recognition was simplified too.In this study, the physical, physiological, and cognitive factors were taken into the consideration of four experiments and literature analysis of the earth-moon distance. The conclusions are as follow:(1) The perceived sizes of the moon are affected by physical and physiological factors as well as cognitive factors(2) The three factors mentioned above should be integrated into the dynamic simulation models of moon illusion in further researches.