Debunking Flat Earth Misconceptions
The Sun and the Moon appear about the same size in the sky, but they are not perfectly the same size, and their sizes are not constant because their orbits are not perfectly circular.
Flat-Earthers claim it is too much of a coincidence that the Sun is perfectly 400× larger than the Moon and perfectly 400× farther, making them appear perfectly the same size. In reality, the Sun and the Moon are not perfectly the same size in the sky.
The distances to the Sun and the Moon are 149,600,000 km and 384,400 km. These figures are average values, and the actual values are around these averages. In a solar eclipse, the actual distances determine whether a total or annular solar eclipse occurs.
Flat-Earthers calculated the geometry of a solar eclipse using these average distances and discovered the umbra does not reach Earth’s surface. They wrongly concluded that an eclipse should not occur. In reality, the numbers are only averages, not the real values. And if the umbra does not reach Earth’s surface, it will still produce an annular solar eclipse.
Continue reading “Solar Eclipse: Length of the Umbra & Earth-Moon Distance”