This is motion parallax (For a demonstration, go to http://psych.hanover.edu/krantz/motionparallax/motionparallax.html). Nearby objects would move a sizable distance and since you’ve passed them, they move backwards. Farther objects don’t seem to move at all. Instead, they move forward with the observer. According to Richard Gregory of University of Bristol, “movement is attributed to unchanging retinal images when the observer moves”1. The Moon is so far away it doesn't seem to move. It has the same image as we move therefore creating a stationary retinal image (imagine the image is pinned in your vision). As we move, it stays in the same position in our vision but the other elements in our vision has moved opposite the direction of movement, giving a sensation that it displaced forward from a previous point in space, hence, following the observer.
Reference:
[1] Gregory, R. L. (2007). Emmert’s Law and the moon illusion. Spatial Vision, Vol. 21, No. 3–5, pp. 407–420 (2008). Retrieved from www.allpsych.uni-giessen.de/julia/SS09/Reading/Gregory_spatVis08.pdf
Prepared by Keanu Sarmiento
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