[blaze33]

> it becomes impossible to look at the crescent moon at night and not immediately triangulate the position of the sun

I do that too, like the moon is lit from the right, slightly from above so yes obviously the sun is over there, up, aaaand... nope, it's sunset. Something's not right, is the light curved?

Anyway, that's the day I learned about the lunar terminator illusion[1]. Honestly, even knowing about the phenomenon, it still feels quite mind-bending to think about it.

[1] https://chrisjones.id.au/MoonIllusion/

[saltcured]

That whole article seems odd to me. I don't think I've ever felt this illusion, at least not when old enough to even think about the geometry of it.

I don't intuit the cylindrical projection mentioned in that article. I "feel" an arc over the hemispherical sky. I know the terminator is perpendicular to that arc and the moon chases the sun towards the horizon.

I wonder if latitude or other local terrain and climate features influence what sort of mental model one develops about this...