# Why can't I see the man in the moon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284 "2005-01-29T15:59:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gaius.Cornelius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gaius.Cornelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaius.Cornelius)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/1 "2005-01-29T15:59:47Z")
Some people say that when they look at the moon they can see a face, albeit somewhat distorted. I cannot see it at all. Can anybody help? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/2 "2005-01-29T16:39:24Z")
There are actually a couple versions of the Man in the Moon, but [this page](http://www.stargazing.net/david/moon/lunarpatterns.html) highlights the one of the more popular ones, along with a few other patterns seen in the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/3 "2005-01-29T16:42:45Z")
That’s funny, the man in the moon that I see follows a completely different outline than the ones that they draw. Theirs seem pretty crappy to me. It reminds me of some constellations in which four stars somehow become a man riding a horse. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/4 "2005-01-29T16:48:34Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > There are actually a couple versions of the Man in the Moon, but [this page](http://www.stargazing.net/david/moon/lunarpatterns.html) highlights the one of the more popular ones, along with a few other patterns seen in the Moon. That guy has one HELL of a zit that needs [popping!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296767) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/5 "2005-01-29T16:54:54Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That’s funny, the man in the moon that I see follows a completely different outline than the ones that they draw. Yeah, there’s a bunch of different ones. I’m trying to find a page that highlights a few of them. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/6 "2005-01-29T18:37:17Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > There are actually a couple versions of the Man in the Moon, but [this page](http://www.stargazing.net/david/moon/lunarpatterns.html) highlights the one of the more popular ones, along with a few other patterns seen in the Moon. The first one looks like a bowling ball! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/7 "2005-01-29T19:03:02Z")
The old version is that the figure in the Moon is a man with a bundle of sticks on his back, but as the illusion was owing to “moon-spots” which change over time perhaps the old guy can’t be seen as our ancestors saw him. ‘Most of all, Galileo had discovered moon-spots, as later he discovered sunspots. To some extent, the spots implied change or decay from perfection, which up to the time of Galileo had been limited to the sublunary world. The “great or ancient spots” on the moon man had always known, drawing them into various patterns of “the man in the moon.”’ From [Virginia.edu](http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-65) ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/8 "2005-01-29T19:41:39Z")
A Japanese friend told me about the “rabbit in the moon”. She pointed it out to me and now, I can’t see anything but a rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![LittleMissWise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@LittleMissWise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleMissWise)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/9 "2005-01-29T20:24:39Z")
I prefer to think of the face I see as the woman in the moon. It just looks female to me. 🙂 My husband can’t see it though, male or female. ---
**Author:** ![LittleMissWise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@LittleMissWise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleMissWise)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/10 "2005-01-29T20:25:55Z")
Man, those drawings really did look like crap. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/11 "2005-01-29T20:59:17Z")
My Man in the Moon looks just like Beavis from Beavis and Butthead. Yours can be too. Look at the second picture down on the left side on **Q.E.D.'s** link. Look in the middle roughly at the top. See that fluffy mound? That is his hair. Now follow the outline down to the right. You can clearly see a white dot for an eye and then the outline forms a nose followed by a white line for a mouth. If you follow the grey all the way down, you will find a rough arm and then two legs at the bottom. I think that God is clearly a Beavis and Butthead fan and probably inspired its creation. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/12 "2005-01-29T21:19:06Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > A Japanese friend told me about the “rabbit in the moon”. She pointed it out to me and now, I can’t see anything but a rabbit. I can’t see anything but a rabbit, either. I found out about the Japanese view in one of those Time-Life Facts books I read when I was roughly four. I seem to remember it was a “rabbit cooking ricecakes”. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/13 "2005-01-29T21:48:04Z")
It’s “deformed rabbit” to me. It’s my favorite! ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/14 "2005-01-30T01:32:34Z")
Alas, the full moon just passed. I want to look for the MoonBunny! (My husband calls me “bunny” and variants, so…) ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/15 "2005-01-30T01:37:00Z")
There’s a variation that has a crab. The squiggle on the page that’s supposed to look like the woman’s hair – that’s the crab’s pincer, and the rest of the dark blob is the crab’s body. I don’t remember which culture that is, maybe Hawai’ian? ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/16 "2005-01-30T01:45:09Z")
> [@LittleMissWise](#): > > I prefer to think of the face I see as the woman in the moon. It just looks female to me. 🙂 > > My husband can’t see it though, male or female. Me too. It appears as a side view of the face. Of course this is all just a subjective impression. Of course there is no “person in the moon”. Just that my mind sees a woman in the moon as a side view. (Of course, with even a modest telescope I don’t see this.) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/17 "2005-01-30T08:48:45Z")
[Is this any help?](http://www.moma.org/collection/depts/film_media/images/large/film_melies_trip.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LittleMissWise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@LittleMissWise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleMissWise)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/18 "2005-01-30T13:59:33Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > Me too. It appears as a side view of the face. Of course this is all just a subjective impression. Of course there is no “person in the moon”. Just that my mind sees a woman in the moon as a side view. (Of course, with even a modest telescope I don’t see this.) Yes, it is sort of a side view to me, too. I can see both her eyes, but she is looking down and off to the side. HEr mouth is in the shape of an O. She looks friendly. ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/19 "2005-01-30T16:25:30Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > There are actually a couple versions of the Man in the Moon, but [this page](http://www.stargazing.net/david/moon/lunarpatterns.html) highlights the one of the more popular ones, along with a few other patterns seen in the Moon. I always thought it was the second one, who I think has a resemblance to Ronald Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284/20 "2005-01-30T17:42:45Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > I can’t see anything but a rabbit, either. I found out about the Japanese view in one of those Time-Life Facts books I read when I was roughly four. > > I seem to remember it was a “rabbit cooking ricecakes”. One of our Japanese friends said the[same thing.](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dwsimm2000/detail?.dir=8cf7&.dnm=3974.jpg&.src=ph) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-see-the-man-in-the-moon/287284.md?page=2)