Real Photos of the Earth

The first photo showing the entire Earth was taken in 1966 from the spacecraft Lunar Orbiter 1. Since then, there are too many photos showing the whole earth taken from various missions to space.

The advent of computers in the 80s introduced a new technique of generating such pictures. A satellite can be used to take many photos of the Earth from a low orbit, and computers can be used to assemble those pictures into a single photo of the Earth.

Flat-Earthers ‘discovered’ such technique, then they concluded that all pictures of the Earth taken from space are all composites, the results of manipulation or assembled by computers. They are wrong. Just because there were pictures created using such technique, it doesn’t mean there is no genuine picture showing the entire Earth, not composites, not stitched, and were taken from a single shot.

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Sunset, Camera Zooming, and Autoexposure

There are videos showing the sun to appear to set, but after the camera is zoomed in, the sun is still above the horizon. The reason is that the camera’s autoexposure system is constantly adjusting the exposure, and in such scenes, there’s a difference in overall brightness before and after zooming in.

Flat-Earthers are taking such videos as ‘evidence’ of a receding sun. They are wrong. This is merely a matter of photography. In reality, the sun is not receding, and it has the same angular size throughout the day.

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The Reasons Why Fisheye Lenses Are Used

Action cameras are being used in high-altitude balloons, rocket launches, and the ISS because they have some advantages compared to other cameras. And most action cameras are equipped with a fisheye lens.

Flat-Earthers allege that there is an evil intention behind every use of fisheye lenses, especially in space and high-altitude usages. They are wrong. The use of fisheye lenses is not unreasonable. And if a rectilinear result is desired, it is trivial to convert any fisheye footage to a rectilinear one.

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The Lack of Stars in the Pictures of Space

In many pictures taken from space, stars are not visible, even with a dark sky. The reason is that stars are very dim compared to the primary object in the pictures. If the camera is set to take a correctly exposed image of an object that is much brighter than the stars, then the stars would not be visible in the picture. The same thing would happen everywhere, in space, or on the surface of the Earth.

Flat-Earthers often take the lack of stars as fakery. They are wrong. This is simply a limitation of any camera.

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Sun Glare Makes The Sun Appear Larger

The Sun appears to be in the angular size of about 0.53°, and it is constant throughout the day. But sunlight is very intense and causes glare that surrounds the Sun. Because of the intensity, we are unable to distinguish the Sun from its glare.

During a sunset, sunlight’s intensity is reduced as sunlight traverses the atmosphere at an angle. Because of the reduced intensity, the amount of glare will also be reduced, and the Sun can look as if it is shrinking.

Flat-Earthers often see this phenomenon as ‘evidence’ of a receding Sun during a sunset. They are wrong.

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Perspective Compression: a Perspective Aid to Determine If a Curvature Exists

Soundly’s pictures and videos of Lake Pontchartrain power lines and causeway really stirred up flat-Earthers’ nests. They clearly show the curvature of the Earth, where it is usually hard to discern. For the rest of us, those pictures are simply the consequence of the fact that the Earth is a globe.

But obviously, flat-Earthers can’t take this, and they invented various excuses to attack the credibility of these pictures and videos. Some of them look for specific vantage point where it is impossible or very hard to discern the curvature.  They would conclude if the curvature can’t be seen from these viewpoints, then it should not be visible from Soundly’s viewpoints.

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Curvature of the Horizon in High-Altitude Balloon Footage

High-altitude balloon footage is often abused by flat-Earthers to show us that the Earth is flat when seen from a high altitude.

We analyzed more than two dozens of footage taken from high-altitude balloons on YouTube, and we can easily conclude the curvature is there and usually easy to spot, including in the cases where flat-Earthers use the video as ‘proof’ of a flat Earth.

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Zooming In On Distant Ships Does Not Disprove Earth’s Curvature

If we can’t see a distant ship, then it is because of one of these reasons:

  • Our eyes have limited angular resolution and are unable to resolve the ship at that distance.
  • The atmospheric condition is limiting our visibility.
  • The curvature of the Earth obscures the ship.

Flat-Earthers are keen to demonstrate that a previously invisible ship at a distance can be made visible by zooming in. They take this fact as ‘proof’ that the curvature of the Earth doesn’t exist. They are wrong. The curvature of the Earth is not the only reason a distant object is not visible.

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