BORROWED WISDOM

Have you noticed that the Sun and the Moon appear to be about the same size?  

Yes, they do, Patrick.   Are they?  

Well, no, of course not!  Actually, the Sun is about 400 times larger than the Moon - - but - - the Moon is about 400 times closer to us than the Sun.  

The Moon derives all it's brightness from our Sun.  

Now, class, think about this.  The brightest nighttime star in our sky (northern hemisphere) is called Sirius.  It's sometimes called the "dog star" because it is part of the constellation Canis Major (the big dog).  Get this, it is 20 times brighter than our Sun but you can't even see it during the day.  The kicker; it is about 8.7 light years [that's far] from Earth.

What does all this tell you?  Everything we see is a product of size, distance and brightness (among other things).  

But, your eyes can fool you.  So, I may not seem very bright, I may seem rather short for my height and large for my size, but, when you get close to me, if you close your eyes and ignore your olfactory sensations, I can be just the right size and cuddly as a teddy bear.  Give it a try!