We’ve almost all seen him, the Man in the Moon.
His bright, benign face shines down on Earth around the time of the full moon.
But he isn’t really there.
This demonstration will show you what is going on.
Equipment needed
approximately seven dominoes (or matchboxes, or any small objects you can make stand upright on a table)
flashlight
Set up the dominoes on a table in the shape of a face: two eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
Darken the room. Shine the flashlight on the dominoes from above and at an angle.
Watch the shadows on the table form an eerie face.
The surface of the Moon has mountains, ridges, and craters, which cast shadows when the Sun’s light hits them.
They seem to make a face because people tend to see familiar objects in random shapes, just as when we look at clouds, we can see ships, monsters, and castles.
