[Physics] Apparent size of sun

everyday-lifesun

During a morning walk when I see Sun rising in the east it is quite large. Why? It is known that in the morning sun is at a greater distance than that in noon, so why it is larger? and red?

Best Answer

While the sun's relative distance to you does change throughout the day, the change in apparent size is essentially not noticeable to the naked eye.

Radius of Earth ~3959mi

Average distance from earth to sun ~92.96 million mi

3,959mi/92,960,000mi = 0.0000641

So the change of your personal distance to the sun throughout the day is only about 0.00641% of the total distance (not really noticeable)

Actually, earth's distance to the sun changes on a much larger scale as it travels through its elliptical orbit (~91 million miles at minimum and ~94.5 million miles at maximum) and even this change is pretty much unnoticeable to the naked eye.

The Short answer to why the sun appears larger at sunrise: it is an optical illusion. At sunset or sunrise, the sun appears closer to the horizon and gives your brain a reference (the objects on the horizon, or the horizon itself) to base its size on. At midday your brain is given no such reference and may misjudge the sun's apparent size. The same effect can be observed with the moon.

Here's a cool trick: next time when it is a full moon out, go outside and take a piece of notebook paper and hold it at arms length. You'll notice that the moon fits entirely in one of the 3 punched holes on the side! It will fit at all times of the day - even if your brain tells you that it won't.