Debunking Flat Earth Misconceptions
A fisheye lens distorts images. It results in images having barrel distortions. In a fisheye lens, a straight line can appear curved. But some flat-Earthers don’t realize that the opposite is also true, a fisheye lens can easily make a curved line look straight.
Continue reading “Fisheye Lenses Can Make Curved Lines Appear Flat”
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.
Continue reading “The Lack of Stars in the Pictures of Space”
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.
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.
Continue reading “Perspective Compression: a Perspective Aid to Determine If a Curvature Exists”
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.
Continue reading “Curvature of the Horizon in High-Altitude Balloon Footage”
Sometimes, we can see clouds appearing as if they are behind the Sun or the Moon. Obviously, this is simply an illusion. But some flat-Earthers regard this as ‘evidence’ that the Sun and the Moon are close, closer than clouds ‘above’ them. They are wrong.
Continue reading “The Illusion of Clouds Appearing ‘Behind’ the Sun or the Moon”
If we can’t see a distant ship, then it is because of one of these reasons:
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.
Continue reading “Zooming In On Distant Ships Does Not Disprove Earth’s Curvature”
During a total solar eclipse, the Moon is right between the Earth and the Sun. Thus, the near side of the Moon does not receive any sunlight. But while it is dark, it still gets some light reflected by the surface of the Earth. This phenomenon is called Earthshine.
Some flat-Earthers argue that a solar eclipse is not caused by the blocking of the Sun by the Moon, but by another, mysterious celestial body. The reason is that eclipses are incompatible with their beliefs about the motion of the Sun and the Moon.
Earthshine proves that they are wrong.
Continue reading “Earthshine Proves the Moon Obscures the Sun During a Total Solar Eclipse”
In photography, the starburst effect gives the illusion of light rays from strong light sources in an image. The effect happens when the lens’ aperture is not a perfect circle, and it gets more pronounced under narrower aperture.
Flat-Earthers often find themselves looking for any peculiarity —no matter how small or unbelievable— in order to discredit any picture they deem unacceptable to their misguided causes. One of this peculiarity is the starburst effect.
How much of Earth we can see at once depends on our distance from the Earth. The closer we are to the surface of the Earth, then the smaller part of the Earth we can see at once. Conversely, the farther we are from the Earth, more of the Earth are visible to us.
The difference in the size of North America in these pictures relative to the size of the Earth is often presented as “evidence” that we have been lied to. In reality, it is simply a perspective effect. The pictures are taken from a different distance from the Earth and with a different camera field of view.
Continue reading “The Size of North America in Pictures of the Earth Taken From Space”