Sweden Solar System

The Sweden Solar System is the largest scale model of the Solar System in the world. We can use it to get a better sense of the sizes and distances in the Solar System.

Flat-Earthers claim there is no scale model of the Solar System and use the fact to “prove” the failure of science to explain the world. The Sweden Solar System proves them wrong and gives us an idea about the problem of making a scale model of the Solar System.

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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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Image Noise and The “Transparent Moon” Misinformation

Image noise is a random variation of brightness or color information produced by a photo film or digital sensor. Image noise is an undesirable by-product of photography and does not come from the actual objects in the picture.

Image noise can be in the salt-and-pepper type, forming bright dots in the dark parts of the image. When appearing in the dark part of the Moon, flat-Earthers incorrectly claim they are stars, “proving” that the Moon is transparent. In reality, these are just image noise, not part of the actual objects.

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Alignment of Planets

Planets are in motion around the Sun. Sometimes the planets’ positions are aligned that they appear close to each other in the sky, and less frequently, involving more than two planets.

One such alignment of planets occurred in May 2011 where Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are all appeared close together. Mercury and Venus are closer to the Sun than Earth, while Mars and Jupiter are farther. Flat-Earthers cannot understand how all of these planets can appear close to each other in the sky, and they use it to discredit science. In reality, this diagram can easily explain the general positions of the planets during the phenomenon.

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Observing Mercury and Venus

Mercury and Venus are inferior planets. Their orbits are closer to the Sun than Earth. We can see these planets if they are above the horizon, and it will be easier if the Sun is below the horizon. Generally, both planets can be seen early or late in the night.

Flat-Earthers claim we should not be able to see Mercury and Venus as they are closer to the sun, and at night we are facing away from the sun. In reality, early and late in the night, we can look toward the general direction of the Sun & observe both planets.

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Sky

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The sky appears practically identical to all observers on Earth, except that the Earth obstructs the view to a different part of the sky to a different observer on Earth, and daylight obscures the view to most objects in the sky.

The fact that the sky appears identical everywhere on Earth can only be adequately explained if all the astronomical objects are very far from us and that the Earth is a sphere.

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Stellarium

Flat-Earthers like to mention an astronomical event or a specific celestial geometry and insist it cannot possibly occur if Earth is a rotating sphere orbiting the sun. They would incorrectly proclaim it as “evidence” of a flat, stationary Earth.

We can ask them the time of the event and the observer’s location, then use Stellarium or a similar app to simulate the event. If it produces the same result as the actual observation, then they have nothing to complain about. And the problem was just caused by their failure to understand and to create the correct model.

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Scale in a Diagram of the Solar System

Diagrams of the Sun, Earth, and the Moon or any other celestial bodies are rarely made to scale because of their extreme smallness relative to the vast distances between them.

Flat-Earthers assume that the diagrams are not made to scale as a form of deception. In reality, it is just impossible to draw a diagram of celestial bodies with the real scale on physical media and still convey what we want to describe.

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Orbital Inclination: The Reason an Eclipse Does Not Occur Every Month

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The plane of the Moon’s orbit around Earth does not coincide with the plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The two orbital planes form an angle of 5.145°. This is the reason an eclipse does not occur every month.

Flat-Earthers claim an eclipse should occur every month, but it does not, and they use it to discredit the science. In reality, they are unaware of the inclinations of the orbits.

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Newton’s Cannonball

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Newton’s cannonball was a thought experiment Isaac Newton used to explain the principle of orbital motion. It was the first explanation of an orbit and still the easiest to understand.

Newton visualizes a cannon on top of a very tall mountain where the air resistance is no longer a factor. As more charge is used with each cannon shot, the speed of the cannonball will be greater, and the cannonball will hit the ground farther and farther. Finally, at a certain speed, it will not hit the ground at all. It will fall toward the spherical Earth just as fast as the Earth curves away from it. In the absence of drag from the atmosphere, it will continue forever in orbit around the Earth.

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Apparent Motion of Planets

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Planets appear to move near the ecliptic —the line that marks the annual path of the Sun against background stars. From these motions, it is obvious that Venus and Mercury are in motion around the Sun. And the motion of the other planets can only be explained if Earth is in motion around the Sun.

Flat-Earthers claim that Earth is stationary. In reality, from observing the planets’ motion, the most plausible explanation is that all planets, including Earth, are in motion around the Sun.

Hill Sphere

The Moon orbits the Earth —not the Sun— because the Moon lies well within Earth’s Hill sphere. Hill sphere is the region around Earth where Earth —instead of the Sun— dominates the attraction of satellites.

Flat-Earthers noticed the Sun exerts a stronger pull to the Moon than Earth does to the Moon. They incorrectly concluded that according to science, the Moon should orbit the Sun, then proceeded to use it to discredit science. In reality, they did not account for the centrifugal acceleration resulting from the motion around the Sun, which is one of the factors that determines Earth’s Hill sphere.

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Earthshine and Moon Phase

Earthshine is a glow in the dark areas of the Moon because sunlight reflects off Earth’s surface to the Moon’s night side. Earthshine can be easily observed with long-exposure photography.

Some flat-Earthers claim that the Moon is transparent or that it is not a sphere. By observing the earthshine using a camera with the correct exposure, we can easily disprove such claims.

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Planets vs Stars

Planets are not stars. On casual observation, both planets and stars appear as bright dots in the night sky. But with careful observation, we know planets are different from the stars.

Flat-Earthers insist that planets are just stars. In reality, we can easily observe many of the planets’ attributes that set them apart from the stars —using minimal efforts and equipment.

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Selenelion: The Phenomenon Where Both the Sun and Moon Are Visible During a Total Lunar Eclipse

A selenelion occurs during a lunar eclipse when the sun and moon are observed above the horizon. Atmospheric refraction bends light rays and lifts the image of the sun, and the moon typically up to 0.6°, so both can appear above the horizon.

Flat-Earthers assert that a selenelion should not be possible if Earth is a sphere due to the fact during a lunar eclipse, the sun and moon are 180° apart. In reality, a selenelion is possible because Earth’s atmosphere refracts light.

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Helical Motion of Planets

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The Solar System is in motion around the Milky Way galaxy, while the planets in the Solar System are in orbiting motion around the sun. As a result, from an observer outside the Solar System, planets will appear to move in a helical motion. Someone created an animation of this helical motion; it went viral and had a lot of media attention.

Flat-Earthers noticed the animation and use it to reinforce their arguments. They claim if the animation is correct, then stars should appear moving & star trails should be impossible. In reality, the animation does not show us the vast distances to the stars.

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Synodic Day vs Sidereal Day

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In 24 hours, the Earth makes slightly more than one full rotation due to its motion around the Sun. We call it one day or one synodic day. On the other hand, a sidereal day is the period of one rotation relative to distant stars.

Flat-Earthers claim that if the Earth is in orbit around the Sun, after six months, at the same hours, then the day would turn into night and night would turn into day. In reality, it would have been true if we are using sidereal day, not synodic day, or just “day” in our everyday language.

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Lunar Libration

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The Moon is tidally locked. Half of the Moon is always facing the Earth. However, due to libration, we can take a glimpse of areas of the moon that are not always visible.

Flat-Earthers invented many “scenarios” to “explain” how the so many lunar-related phenomena can happen on the flat Earth model. Some of these “explanations” include “transparent Moon”, “hemisphere-shaped Moon”, “flat circular Moon”, etc. Lunar libration rules out the majority, if not all, of these “explanations.”

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Total Lunar Eclipse, Drawn to Scale

Any diagram showing two or more celestial bodies is almost never drawn in the correct scale. The reason is that in most cases, any two celestial bodies are spaced too far away relative to their sizes. It is just not possible to draw them in the correct scale and still effectively describes what we want to explain. We don’t have much choice other than drawing them not to scale.

The perpetrators of flat-Earth disseminate the allegations that the diagrams were drawn not to scale because of evil intentions, and not because of legitimate technical reasons. Some people don’t understand this and fell victim to flat-Earth indoctrination.

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