Look how the spokes in the bigger circle actually distort the other perfect circle. This is sometimes called the “umbrella raindrop effect” optical illusion because it looks like a giant raindrop on top of an umbrella. Actually, that’s not true. I’m just messing with you. I promise I won’t do it again. Doesn’t “umbrella raindrop effect” sound like a good name for a band? Feel free to use it my musician friends.
Bottom line: Our eyes can’t help it it, they look at the lines, the spacing, and it just plain makes that smaller circle look distorted as an egg. Now, here’s the trick: If you can try to just focus on the smaller circle, it will actually not look so distorted the longer you look at it.
