Business usually is brisk at Hendrick Durham Auto Mall when there is a full moon in the sky. There may be no exception to that tonight, when the moon will be extraordinary.

Not only is tonight the "solstice moon," coming two days before summer starts in the Northern Hemisphere, but it also will present an amazing June moon illusion.

As the moon rises in the sky tonight, it may look unusually large. But it will be just an illusion, a well-documented occurrence particularly noticeable with the solstice moon.

According to NASA, the reason for the illusion lies in lunar mechanics: The sun and full moon are like kids on a see-saw; when one is high, the other is low. This week's high solstice sun gives us a low, horizon-hugging moon and a strong, long-lasting version of the illusion.

Here's how it works, according to NASA: Your mind believes objects on the horizon are farther away than things overhead because you are used to seeing clouds just a few miles above. But the clouds on the horizon can indeed be hundreds of miles away. So if we think something (such as the moon) is farther away, and it's not, then it seems larger.

Perhaps the guests at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet won't see the moon because they will be too busy perusing the inventory and staring with amazement at the incredibly low prices and great deals being written up by the managers. The way the day has gone, that could well happen: we had our first customer signed and delivered hours before lunchtime.

Celebrity Sighting At RHC of Durham

Among the visitors to the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall showroom this week was former University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and professional basketball player Bill Chamberlain.

Chamberlain, who played for Dean Smith at UNC in the 1970's, purchased a preowned Tahoe.

Chamberlain played for the Phoenix Suns from 1973-74.

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