[Jonty30]

I have a general astronomy question.

If earth is something like 6 times, in volume, the moon has, then why does it seem that the earth, when looking at it from the moon, seem to look about the same size as the moon does from the Earth?

[al baby]

Omg no kidding great question

[Genoa]

Because the moon is closer to the earth than the earth is to the moon?

(Not really. The earth does look bigger to moon men. Trust me on this one.)

[kaehurowing]

Refraction through the crystalline spheres.

[Owen]

First, volume is not relevant. Radius is. What you’re looking for is the angle subtended by the radius of Earth from moon and moon from Earth.

Earth radius is about 6400 kilometers. X 2 is a diameter of 12,800 kilometers. Distance to moon varies by 43600 Km. Nearest point is 363,000 kilometers.

12800 km / 363000 km = .035 arctan of that is 2 degree subtend

Longest distance is 407000 km so 12800/407000 artan = 1.8 degrees

That would be how the earth looks from the moon.

The moon from earth is

diameter 3400 kilometers/407,000 kilometers and arctan 0.50 degrees
diameter 3400 kilometers/363000 km and arctan is .54 degrees

So the diff is 1.5 degrees, in pure math and this is an amount easily smudged outward by atmospherics for the Earth observer.

[Hiro Protaginast]

Depends on the focal length of the lens taking the picture.The shorter the focal length, the smaller the moon is going to look in the frame.

[eartrumpet]

My wife shot her first deer at dusk. There was a huge rising full moon so I laid down and got it over her shoulder for a nice picture. Came out looking like a BB.

[KarlInOhio]

If earth is something like 6 times, in volume, the moon has, then why does it seem that the earth, when looking at it from the moon, seem to look about the same size as the moon does from the Earth?

Because I doubt you have actually gone to the moon to take a look, all of your knowledge is from pictures. With no reference point for measurements in the pictures of earth and since the photographer/film printer usually just sets either moon or Earth pictures to fill most of the field of view of the camera you don't get an idea how big either is. In reality, the earth would be about two degrees across, or four times as wide as the moon appears from Earth.