A bit of a silly question, but does anyone know what the bgigest recorded variations of distance is between the Earth and the Moon?

Reason I'm wondering is because in some sims/games, the moon looks very large(Like say OFPDR or SH4), but in some it looks very small(OFP1, ARMA etc).


I started thinking about this because when I left for work this morning, the moon was visible despite it being daytime thanks to a beautiful clear sky, and it was very small, looked much like the ARMA moon in size, yet in comparison to the moon in OFPDR, it was absolutely miniscule.

Now I'm wondering, does this have much to do with me living in Europe? Afterall, OFP1, ARMA1 and 2 all take place in European locales(based off starchart system used in the games), whereas OFPDR takes place in Asia, as does SH4, does the moon appear substantially larger/closer in Asia than in Europe?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer my crazy questions!

//Regards

Perigee: 363,104 km (0.002 4 AU)
Apogee: 405,696 km (0.002 7 AU)

The Moon appears larger when close to the horizon. This is a purely psychological effect.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4619063.stm

Did you know that the moon moves away from the earth at approx. 3.8 cms per year?

away? I would have thought that its orbit would be slowly degrading, thus inching toward the Earth.

I guess the moon will spin off in several million years rather than crash into the planet.

Another possibility is that other games have different fields of view. Wider FoV, smaller moon...

I believe in GTA San Andreas if you shoot the moon with a sniper rifle, it will grow until it becomes twice as large.

This might sound crazy, but then NASA are currently testing this theory. Check carefully the size of the moon next time you see it!

US spacecraft crash into the Moon

Yes, I saw on the Science Channel that the moon will eventually slip off into space. It's absence will have a devastating effect on the earth as the earth's rotation will degrade into a severe "wobble". Somehow the moon keeps the earth's rotation very smooth and steady.

Hmm, not what I understand. Tidal action is what transfers energy to the Moon. Earth's rotation slows down as a result. Eventually the Earth and Moon will be tidally locked, same sides facing each other. Moon will not escape, once tidally locked the energy transfer stops, tidal lock will occur before Moon reaches escape velocity.

Well, you'll have to explain that to the scientists they interviewed. They were quite certain that the moon will eventually leave earth's orbit and once it's gone it'll have devestating effects on the earth.

I'm only reporting what I watched. I make no claims to its accuracy.

I don't dispute you saw it and they said that, just doesn't agree with what I've heard, and this is something that interests me so I have looked at it a few times over the years in various texts (not just the web or wikipedia).

The time-frame for this is so far out that it is likely that the Earth will already be uninhabitable because the sun is getting brighter over time (it is about 20 or 30% brighter now than when it first formed).

One has to think of whether the moon "in-game" is an artistic portrayal or an accurate measure. AFAIK, OFP and as a result Arma1/2 tried to model star charts and accuracy for the possible purpose of true navigation by stars. I would tend to believe that OFPDR and SH4 are more or less painted backgrounds done for artistic visuals. I could be wrong and I don't think either are any better or worse than the other (unless you *want* true navigation capabilities).

I think it's possible that the moon heard about this and is bugging out before it gets too hot around here.

Yes, at some point the sun will get so big that it will consume the inner planets. I'm hoping that's not until several years after I retire, at least.