[Gay State Conservative]

So if I’m understanding this correctly, the reason the moon wasn’t quite “big enough” is because the picture was taken from somewhere technically farther away from the moon than normal solar eclipse images are taken from?

I'm no physicist or astronomer so I'm probably wrong but I think "apparent* size is the key here.For example,just the other day,on a crystal clear evening,I was driving east on I-90 in a hilly area of western Massachusetts.There,right in front of me,was the moon rising (or setting) and it was huge and yellow.I think the angle from horizon determines how large to moon "appears" at a given moment.

Astronomers...help me out here!

[TheZMan]

That phenomenon is due to comparative sizes. The moon looks larger at the horizon because you have something to compare it to.

The phenomenon does not apply in the case of an eclipse. The moon is either big enough to fully block the sun, or isn’t. In this case it wasn’t, but without sitting down with a notepad and calculator I can’t determine if being further away would have less of an effect on the sun than it does the moon. (I’m on the second cup now)