The Eclipse of Mars Illusion

See a new color you’ve never seen before!!…Well… at least never before on your monitor. It’s a startling example of how poor the green/cyan element is on TVs and monitors generally. The colour you are about to witness is actually true Cyan … a colour that is heavily diluted on the vast optical illusions 10 majority of monitors (thanks to colour pollution). It’s a pity one needs an optical illusion to demonstrate this, but at least you can see what you’ve been missing ;-) Anyway on with the illusion….

Stare at the white dot in the centre of the red circle. The longer – the better (two minutes and you’ll get a much stronger effect). Always try to keep focused on the white dot. It’ll be worth it.
Soon after staring, you’ll start to see a thin rim of light around the edge. Don’t stop staring though yet! Wait another minute – keeping your head perfectly still.

Once you’ve done this, slowly – move your head backwards – making sure to keep your eyes focused on the dot at all times. The circle’s rim will glow brilliantly with true Cyan! Keep on moving your head slowly backwards, and it’ll glow very hot!…

The blue/cyan colour chart to the right isn’t part of the illusion, but there to demonstrate that the ultra cyan you have just seen is not in the monitor’s color palette! It should be, but isn’t.
It’s an amazing effect.


243 Replies to “The Eclipse of Mars Illusion”

  1. IT WAS SOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!!!!!
    It was a very pretty color. Now that they’ve mentioned it, i’ve also wondered at this color. why can’t it show up on the computers and TVs and stuff? my car is this color.

  2. It’s so pretty.. =o It’s gonna be stained on my eyes for awhile more, though, but it was worth it. =)

  3. When you look at the blue palett before you try the illusion, the ones on the left look greenish, but look at them right after you do it, they just look blue

  4. that wuz crazy pople pretty nice imma do it again i wonder where i could se this color permanently (like on cars and on walls)…

  5. :O!! Pretty!!! It’s STILL infront of my eyes, lol, i listened to the last half of a 4 minute song and willed myself not to blink..it’s very worth it. <3

  6. shiiiit,,
    that was freaky stuff,,,, and it kept growing bigger as i moved away, i mean even beyond the box… wow,, ultra cool

  7. Dude, it’s been 3 minutes, and I’m seeing a cyan circle where ever I look (like, on the white wall of my room.) That’s trippy.

  8. WOW!!!! THAT WAS REALLY PRETTY, IT WAS A REALLY COOL BLUISH COLOR, BUT I STILL SEE A BLUE CIRLCE………… AND WHEN I WAS STARING AT THE DOT, THE RING AROUND THE RED CIRCLE WAS HALF RED AND HALF BLUE, IT WAS GOING AROUND AND AROUND, IT WAS REALLY AWESOME!!!!!!!! THANKS FOR PUTTING THIS IMAGE ON HERE =)

  9. I stumbled across your web site threw a search at Canadianblogs! I think this is very cool, and would like to share with others. I have posted your URL at my blog in order to share with others! I belong to a group that is called “Microsoft Home Ambassadors”. And right now we are looking at interesting blogs to share with others. Well I find yours interesting! And mostly alot of FUN! I am sure I will be checking back quite regularly just to see what you have done! I sure have enjoyed going threw all of your Illusions and so has the Grandson and husband!
    I am still seeing little green spots going around and around LMAO!
    TC! & HAGD!
    testerswife (MHA)

  10. It is too on the color pallete…. trust me…. I can hear things people can’t hear, and see things that otherwize can’t be seen… usually high pitched noises and colors. I have an eye for matching colors. Don’t mean to sound like a know-it-all but it’s true. There can’t possibly be a color that’s not on the color pallete. The colors off to the side are different shades… and each one is gradient by one on the slide. The color you see is near the center of the pallete. you can see this if you stare long enough, then look over at the pallete at a distance so the blue circle is just outside of it.. you will see its matching color.

  11. that was way kewl.
    but nobody special, srry but ur wrong 2,
    cyan is on the colour pallet but not on the 1 bside the red dot.
    that pallet is blue shades,
    not cyan shades.
    and personally i think that u only see weird colours cause u have bad eyesite,
    any1 cud see its not on that pallet,
    theyre pure blues fcs!!!

  12. the circle can also represent the “center” of your vision… you have on focal point of your vision, and the circle can show it, when you get close enough to the screen… truly is a beautiful color though…

  13. it hurts me eyes!!!!!!!!!! lol but its awesome now my eyes are all wacked up!!!!!!! kool color though……..also y did we have to hold our hand still?

  14. ugghhh…….hi…..i really think u should stop saying bad words!
    Is any1 filtering this??? anyway i am sorry u have too see blue dots.
    …Cuz… i know how u feel!!

  15. What a cool color! I’m still seeing it which is a bit irritating but quite cool! Really pretty. And so bright and .. nice ^^

  16. ive done that before with alot of things!!! like listen to what i say, if you stare directly at a light, and wait 5 seconds, it does that anyway!! still very cool though!

  17. the cicle wont stop moving damn it it is so beautiful tho im gald i clicked on it it is the most gorgeous color i have ever seen
    seriously its somehow so pure

  18. Certainly one of the best illusions i’ve seen. it got so bright. Then, also, when i looked away from the screen the blue color was everywhere. it took like 10 minutes to go away, very strong color. Keep ’em comin! Great site.

  19. nobody special

    Cyan is in that on that chart. Bottom left hand corner.

    There however is a large difference between computer cyan and print cyan.

    I honestly don’t know what you think you’re seeing, but displays have always sucked for true colour accuracy.

  20. oh my god dat is amazing the circle looks so real its hard to believe its not real nd only imaginary its really cool on the palm of ure hand nd if u look at someting pink it turns purple its really freaky

  21. Wow, that was SO COOL!!!!!! I LOVED it!!!!!

    I enjoy your site very much, and I hope you keep providing us with cool and interesting illusions like this. Keep up the good work!!!

  22. wow that was amazing and soooo coooool!It’s amazing how much different it looked from what they show like on the television and computer.

  23. THATS SO NEAT!!! My hand was so blue for a minute i thought it was actually painted or something.Really neat illusion

  24. My eyes started tearing up so I had to close my eyes after bout a minute…

    If you close your eyes then look at your hand you can see it, too.

    (Sorry if this has already been said, I didn;t read all the cmments. @_@)

  25. i Think This Is A Wickedddddd Illusion!!… The Colour U End Up Seeing Is The Best Colour I Have Ever Seen In My Now 15 Years Of Life!!….i LOVE it!!

  26. My School Was Making A “Newspaper Day” We Had To Make A Whole Newspaper In One Day And I Loved This Sooo Much… I Put It In My Page Of the Newspaper. Goooooo Me!

    Im Hannah By The Way♥

  27. WOW!!!!! thas d best illition in d whole site.

    ps. r d effects supposed 2 b permanent cause i did it like 2 minutes ago n im still seen the blue cirle……EVERYWHER!!!!!!!!!!

    IS DRIVIN ME CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!

  28. i agree with lady after u look at it anbd move ur head to another pert of the screen u still see the colour. totally awesome tho.

  29. WOAH, that was pretty. but im still seeing a pretty shade of blue circle thougt, it was really worth it. very preety!!

  30. DUDE!
    hey i figured if you cover one eye while doing this when your done your vision isn’t as messed up!

  31. how do you get rid of the blue circle? lol
    its a really good illusion and i love the colour!!! :)

  32. the circle kinda follows you round it followed me i looked at my tv and it was there o ps before i saw the blue glow i saw a maroonish brown glow circling the red circle

  33. the blue follows me i looked at my tv and the circle and before i saw blue i saw a maroonish brown color circling the red circle

  34. This isn’t really an illusion, it’s to do with complementary colours. The chart is of some shades, but probably not the complementary colour of that particular red. Nice cyan though. Awesuuuum…

  35. WOAH!!! THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME! that never get’s old! I’ve been doing it so many times now…that color is sooooooo pretty! that’s the color that I want my birthday car to be!!! and my ipod, but they only come in so many colors…

  36. WHY ISNT TRUE CYAN IN MONITORS IT RUINS EVERY OUTDOOR SHOT THAT is CRAP IT IS MADE OF FAIL AND AIDS

  37. Woh! How cool is that?! I can still see a blue circle wherever my eyes go. That’s brilliant! When you move your head back, you just get the full effect of the colour!
    It’s a VERY nice colour

  38. LIKE O-M-G!*!*!* ~!…..WOAH…..!~ MY EYEZ, LIKE, FEEL WIERD! U JUST DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH I ABSOLOOTELY <3 THAT BEAUTIFUL COLOUR! I PROBLY NEED 2 DYE MY CHILD'S HAIR THAT WONDERFUL COLOUR! HIS NAME IS SAM AND HE IS TWO, AND WOULD ABSOLOOTELY ADORE HIS HAIR MUCH MUCH BETTER IF HIS HAIR WAS CYIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!O-M-G!

  39. Um..this is soo cool. Can we see this clour becuase our minds allow us to see it or is it just some computer made up thing? Im just asking!!!Anyways does this make us dumb?

  40. My retinas are totally branded with the blue circle! The further away I moved my head, the bigger the cyan colored circle got until it started going out into the white part outside of the rectangle! It’s evil that that color doesn’t exist on screens… now when I look at my hand, it’s all blueish, and the further away my eyes are from my hand, the more blue area on it! It looked like a blue light on my hand…

  41. It’s a nice illusion, but it did originally come from Skytopia.com (check archive.org for proof). Try to give credit where due if poss :P Thx :D

  42. it is a beatiful colour i love it soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. I cant belive how pretty that colour looks

    BUT MY EYES HURT

  43. oh cool…after watching this….star at any blank colour..preferably white walls or a white desktop..n ul still see a cyan circle!

  44. “IT WAS SOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!!!!!
    It was a very pretty color.”

    sick! beautiful color. im gonna try it more than once.

  45. it is such a beautiful colour! i wish my eyes were that blue. it is still stained in my eyes though ti is 5 mins later. it still works really well if you stare at it for about 15 secs

  46. that was the best illusion i have ever seen :), also, i saw weird designs in the red circle when i stared at it, then a blue-black ring formed in it. anyone else see that?

  47. OH MY BEDFORDSHIRE!!! That cyan is really sonmething scary blue circle in my vision now ahhh:D

  48. Now im seeing that cyan BEAUTIFUL dot everywhere i look, truely is an amazing illusion. I wish my eyes were that color. I wish you could just copy that dot color and take it in and get a paint color like that. I love that color!

  49. Quite strange…
    The first illusion with no one link in the explaining text…
    Or maybe this is another illusion?
    The links are there but i can’t see them! Nor the mouse pointer!!!!

  50. i was like whatever right when i stopped looking at it but now that i was reading the comments that damn cyan circle is still in my sight,Nice

  51. omgthis was like TOTALLY AWESOME thank you so much for sharing this i did like 20 times all the times it worked! im gonna do it again :0)
    a

  52. for some reason it didn’t work at first, but when i scrolled down it followed me everywhere i looked. Great post! i wonder if you can do the reverse of all of the colors?

  53. Wow, that one is truly amazing.
    The first thing i wanted to do when i saw it was take a picture of it, but then i realized…

  54. shit! it’s the most beautiful illusion and color i’ve ever seen for my entire life! from now on, cyan is my favorite color!

  55. lol technogirl, i think you check this site and page to often… but i would of thought loads more people would of commented…

  56. That. was. awesomely. bright. It felt like a beautiful, shining portal was about to reveal itself to me from my computer screen. But that red circle was in the way. And now that the beautiful dimension did not expose itself to me–like the rest, the memory of it it burned into my retina…

  57. OMGGGGG SO COOOOL!!!!! I SENT IT TO SOME OF MY FRIENDS! :) IT TAKES A MINUTE OF STARING ACTUALLY. BUT IM CAPITALIZING BC WELL I CAPITALIZE WHEN SOMETHING IS LIKE REALLY INTERESTING! 8D OR JUST FOR NO REASON LOL. I LOVE THAT COLOR. VERY CUTE :)

  58. what you can do too, is watch the image for 2 minutes liek in the instructions, then close your eyes and keep your hand before your eyes so your eyes don’t catch any light. Then, even when your eyes are closed, you can see the cyan. But this effect is a bit too strong. I see it even now while typing this comment :)

  59. I only had to look at the image for a few seconds o get that color. It is truly magnificent but now I have that color burned into my retina. Its pretty but it makes things look a little strange.

    1. It also took me just 20 seconds to see it,
      1 thing some of you could miss is that all the blue spots on the pc and besides it turn gray.
      It’s like the cyan circle steels the blue and converts it in tu cyan brightness

  60. Wow. That was absolutely beautiful. I also tried to look on a white wall right after, and there was the cyan circle! Nice illusion :)

  61. Yes the colour is pretty but then I’m now seeing blue circles EVERYWHERE and it’s quite annoying :P

  62. OMG!!! This illusion is great!!! I love that clour it was so beautiful!! the only problem: there is now a stupid blue cirle afterimage. Apart from that GREAT!!!

  63. why is the name of this illusion ‘The Eclipse of Mars Illusion’?? anyways, i just love the color… why can’t they put in onto our monitors too?? :S

  64. its. still. there. @__@

    yes its a nice color but the effect last to long. i think im permanently seeing blue.. >.<

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  66. I see the colour-it’s really nice! I found it works even if you stare for 15-30 secs, bit it’s better the longer you stare. :)

    1. The circle is an optical illusion that stays in our eyes for a small amount of time after we have stared at something for too long.

  67. COOL, also the after effect is a blue dot same size as red and the red dot starts to get grainish after starting for 60 sec or so . . .

  68. The red circle illuminated a blue circle. I followed it around on the screen for like 3 minutes and it’s still there! I’m not sure if that’s bad or not XD

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  71. FINALLY , THIS IS NOT A @!$%$% GIF , AND THIS WORKS.

    BTW if you wanna remove the effect , try closing your eyes for 5 to 10 minutes. ((But it should automatically disappear after 2 to 3 min of ooking to any other thing))

  72. Now if your eyes are getting reeeeeally sore, at about 1 minute just stare at something white. Like the Jesus face illusion.
    It also makes it easier to compare to the color chart, and lasts a lot longer (like staring at something really bright then closing your eyes)
    I had to change the amount of time my computer went on standby for.

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