moon and ball
When you hold a ball in the sunlight in the same direction as the daytime moon the sunlit shape of the ball is ALWAYS identical to that of the moon. The orientation of the shapes is also the same.
It confirms that the moon is lit by the sun just like the ball and that the sun is so far away that the sunlight lighting up the moon is practically parallel to the sunlight lighting up the ball. From the sun's viewpoint, the moon is just another ball negligibly further away from our hand than the ball we are holding.
Regarding the photo: In order to have both the ball and the moon in focus, I took the picture of the volunteer holding the ball from at least a meter away. Later I cropped the photo to favor the ball and the moon.
This and the other photo are dedicated to Jack Horkheimer, a pioneering promoter of astronomy in the 1970s. If you ever have a chance to view his "tales of the night sky" and "Star Hustler" series, available on VHS tapes in some libraries, you will not be disapointed.
moon and ball
When you hold a ball in the sunlight in the same direction as the daytime moon the sunlit shape of the ball is ALWAYS identical to that of the moon. The orientation of the shapes is also the same.
It confirms that the moon is lit by the sun just like the ball and that the sun is so far away that the sunlight lighting up the moon is practically parallel to the sunlight lighting up the ball. From the sun's viewpoint, the moon is just another ball negligibly further away from our hand than the ball we are holding.
Regarding the photo: In order to have both the ball and the moon in focus, I took the picture of the volunteer holding the ball from at least a meter away. Later I cropped the photo to favor the ball and the moon.
This and the other photo are dedicated to Jack Horkheimer, a pioneering promoter of astronomy in the 1970s. If you ever have a chance to view his "tales of the night sky" and "Star Hustler" series, available on VHS tapes in some libraries, you will not be disapointed.