Perspective and the Lake Pontchartrain Transmission Line

The Lake Pontchartrain power transmission pylons demonstrate Earth’s curvature. Flat-Earthers invented various excuses to dismiss the observation, including the excuse that it was just a perspective effect.

If it were just a perspective effect, the same parts of the pylons would line up in a straight line, converging into a distant point. In reality, they do not line up in a straight line but are visibly curving downward due to the curvature of the Earth.

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Ancient Greeks and Spherical Earth

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Ancient Greeks have known spherical Earth since at least the 3rd century B.C. According to historian Otto E. Neugebauer, the Greeks discovered Earth is a sphere from the drastic variation in the stars’ positions & motions between Greek settlements of different latitudes.

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Different Reasons Why a Distant Object is Not Visible

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Different reasons can cause a distant object to be not visible:

  1. The angular resolution limit of the observer.
  2. The visibility limit imposed by the atmosphere.
  3. Obstruction by another object, including by Earth’s curvature.

Flat-Earthers incorrectly presumed “a distant ship is not visible only because of Earth’s curvature.” Incorrectly concluded if we can bring the ship back into view, the curve must not exist. In reality, Earth’s curvature is not the only thing that can cause a distant ship to be not visible; other reasons can also cause it.

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Foucault’s Pendulum Proves Earth is Rotating Sphere

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Foucault’s pendulum proves Earth’s rotation. In the Northern Hemisphere, the pendulum rotates clockwise. In the Southern Hemisphere, it rotates counterclockwise. The pendulum turns faster if it is closer to the pole. On the Equator, the pendulum does not rotate.

Flat-Earthers invented various excuses to discredit Foucault’s pendulum. In reality, anyone not near the Equator can easily repeat the experiment, and it will give the expected result.

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Lake Pontchartrain’s Horizon Curvature

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The Lake Pontchartrain causeway and transmission lines demonstrate Earth’s curvature. Flat-Earthers attempt to dismiss it using aerial photos where it is more difficult to see the curved landmarks over water.

On the other hand, from these alternative vantage points, it becomes easier to reveal the horizontal curvature by magnifying vertically. Because of the possibility of lens distortions, some of the images are inadequate evidence of the curve. However, all of them are insufficient evidence of a flat Earth.

Earthshine Shows the Moon Obscuring the Sun During a Total Solar Eclipse

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon’s side facing Earth does not receive sunlight but still receives light reflected from Earth’s surface. The phenomenon is called Earthshine and can be captured using a camera with a long exposure.

Flat-Earthers demand visual evidence of the Moon blocking the Sun during a solar eclipse. Earthshine provides this visual evidence & shows that the Moon is blocking the Sun.

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Galilean Moons: First Objects Observed to Orbit Another Object

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Jupiter has four moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, & Callisto) that we can easily observe using a binocular or telescope. They are the first objects found to orbit another, proving it is possible for a satellite to orbit planets other than Earth.

Flat-Earthers like to demand evidence of an object orbiting another. All they have to do is use a telescope to observe Jupiter. Its moons have short orbital periods (1.8 to 16.7 days), & thus, it is not hard to observe the orbiting motion.

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Islamic Rituals and Spherical Earth

Many Islamic rituals rely on the observations of astronomical events. Presently, many such observations are supplanted by calculations involving the knowledge that Earth is a sphere. These calculations give the same consistent results as direct observations on all locations on Earth for several centuries already. The fact confirms that Earth is indeed a sphere.

Some Muslims believe in flat Earth and then try to integrate the belief that Earth is flat into their religion. It results in an interesting phenomenon that they perform their religious rituals using the results of spherical Earth calculations but have severe difficulties accepting the fact. It can result in a spectacular cognitive dissonance after being made aware of it.

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Turning Torso Building, Malmö, Sweden

Turning Torso is a skyscraper in Malmö, Sweden, having a distinctive segmented shape & easy to recognize from far. From Copenhagen, Denmark, we can see its lower part is obscured more if we are farther because Earth is a sphere.

The building is close to the strait of Øresund. Copenhagen, Denmark, lies at the other side of the channel, only 15 km (9 miles) away from Malmö. Turning Torso has a distinctive segmented shape that is easy to recognize from far. And more importantly, for our purposes, its segmented form makes it easy to judge its height from far.

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Sunset and Drone

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Using a drone, we can observe a sunset, then climb up and watch the same sunset again for the second time. The observation is only possible because Earth is a sphere.

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Milky Way Visibility

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Because Earth is a sphere moving around the Sun, we can easily see the Milky Way’s center only in certain months. In other months, the Milky Way will be too close to the Sun in the sky, where sunlight will overwhelm and obscure it from view.

Flat-Earthers claim that the Milky Way is visible every night “proves” a flat Earth. In reality, we are inside the Milky Way, and some parts will be visible. However, a specific part of it, like its brighter center, will not be visible every night.

Satellite Watching

We can observe satellites with the naked eye, and they will appear like fast-moving stars across the sky. The required conditions: the satellite is large enough and/or close enough, the sky is dark enough, and the satellite is lit by the sun. As a result, the best time to observe satellites is a few hours before sunrise and a few hours after sunset.

Flat-Earthers claim it is impossible to see satellites and use the fact as “proof” the satellites do not exist. In reality, we can observe the satellites even with the naked eye. Apps and websites like heavens-above.com provide us with information on satellite watching opportunities.

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Refraction of Laser Beam

Lasers are distinguished from other light sources by their coherence, or that their frequency and waveform are identical, and the output being a narrow beam. But lasers are still a form of light and exhibit the same characteristics as other light sources.

Flat-Earthers assume lasers always travel in a straight line, not affected by the medium. They use this incorrect assumption in their “experiments” to “prove” a flat Earth. In reality, like other light sources, atmospheric refraction can bend laser beams.

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Southern Hemisphere: Where Many Flat-Earth Claims are Disproven

Flat-Earth is a con initially designed to appeal to the potential victims in the Northern hemisphere. At a glance, some of the claims are seemingly in line with observation in the Northern hemisphere, but they are easily disproven when tested in the Southern hemisphere.

90% of all humans live in the Northern hemisphere. And it made sense of these con artists to invent the “facts” with the northern markets in mind while hoping nobody would bother going to the Southern hemisphere only to verify them. It was realistic in the 19th century, but today, everyone can verify the southern facts. There is no excuse for us to become flat-Earth victims, especially those already living in the Southern hemisphere.

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True Horizon and Linear Perspective

In graphical, linear perspective, the horizon is the horizontal line where the vanishing points for level objects lie. However, as the Earth is a sphere, the horizon of linear perspective is not the same as the true horizon, which is the line that we observe separating Earth from the sky.

Flat-Earthers claim that the observed horizon is produced by the law of perspective. In reality, from a high vantage point, we can try extending level and parallel lines to find their vanishing points. In many cases, they will end up above the true horizon.

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Airplanes Going Over Earth’s Curvature

To an observer on the ground, an airplane at 36000 ft will start going over Earth’s curvature at a distance of 400 km. However, we are also limited by atmospheric visibility. In an extremely best-case scenario, we can only see up to 240 km.

We can easily see ships going over Earth’s curvature, and flat-Earthers like to demand us the same thing for airplanes. In reality, at the typical distance a plane does that, it is far out of visibility range. But if it is very low, like when approaching a runway to land, it is possible to see the plane going over the curvature of the Earth.

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Observing Earth’s Curvature From a Flight

At the cruising altitude of a jet airliner, Earth’s curvature is too slight for us to notice casually. But with planning and careful observation, it is not impossible to see the curvature. Continue reading “Observing Earth’s Curvature From a Flight”

Weight and Air Density Experiment

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Using a precise digital kitchen scale and a smartphone with a pressure sensor, we can easily measure the change in weight and atmospheric pressure in different locations.

Flat-Earthers claim that an object falls down because it is denser than the air surrounding it. However, simple measurements show that things weigh less at a higher altitude where the air is less dense, contrary to the expectation if their claim is true.

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Sun Outage

A Sun outage is a disruption of geostationary satellite signal caused by interference of the sun when it falls directly behind a satellite with which a receiver is communicating. Sun outages occur around the March equinox and September equinox.

Flat-Earthers fail to understand how the schedule of a Sun outage depends on the satellite and the receiver’s location. And they use it to discredit the fact. In reality, it is not difficult to visualize how a Sun outage occurs, and it will be consistent with the expectation.

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Theodolite and the Dip of the Horizon

Because Earth is a sphere, the horizon always lies below eye level. We cannot see it near Earth’s surface with the naked eye. But with a precise instrument like a theodolite, we can observe the dip of the horizon.

Flat-Earthers claim that the horizon always rises to eye level. In reality, even from very close to Earth’s surface, it is still possible to observe that the horizon lies below eye level.

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