Refraction of light by atmosphere
Why Does The Sun Seem Bigger In The Morning And Evening?
Because you have more terms of reference. More things to compare it to. When it's in the middle of the sky there aren't many other objects up there next to it. Okay, so there are clouds, but you don't have an inherent idea of how big a cloud is. Whereas, you know how big the roof of your garage is, or how big the neighbour's car is. So when you see the sun close to those things, you realise how big the sun is.
When you see the sun in the middle of the big sky, nothing is so easy to compare it to.
The sun is dangerous to look at, so try this experiment with the moon, which also looks bigger near the horizon.
Find a location where you can see the moon on the horizon or up in the middle of the sky. When the moon is near the horizon, stretch your arms far as they will go, using your fingers to circle the moon. Hold them still, go back inside and get a friend to measure the diameter of your finger-circle -- the apparent diameter of the moon as you saw it near the horizon.
Next time, measure the moon in the same way from the same location, but when the moon is high up in the sky.
Your friend will find the diameter of your finger circle is the same, whether you measured from the horizon, or in the middle of the sky.
When you see the sun in the middle of the big sky, nothing is so easy to compare it to.
The sun is dangerous to look at, so try this experiment with the moon, which also looks bigger near the horizon.
Find a location where you can see the moon on the horizon or up in the middle of the sky. When the moon is near the horizon, stretch your arms far as they will go, using your fingers to circle the moon. Hold them still, go back inside and get a friend to measure the diameter of your finger-circle -- the apparent diameter of the moon as you saw it near the horizon.
Next time, measure the moon in the same way from the same location, but when the moon is high up in the sky.
Your friend will find the diameter of your finger circle is the same, whether you measured from the horizon, or in the middle of the sky.
Because the light from the sun is traveling through the thickest part of the atmosphere which acts like a magnifying glass (and also filters out the blue light spectrum, making the sun look orange).
Cause in the morning , is when it , is first rising , And towards evening is when it goes down smaller.
Because it is closer to the earth.
