If you do the math, the skyline should be behind the horizon on a round Earth. It taken from the other side of Lake Michigan, 60 miles (100 km) away. Take this photo of the Chicago skyline, for example. More generally, one thing Flat Earthers like to say, possibly the clearest positive evidence to support their claims, is that they can take photographs that show distant objects that should be behind the horizon. Refraction can also make the horizon appear lower than it really is, and thus the edge of a flat disk would look more curved that it should be. This is the basis for a various phenomena that are colloquially called mirages. In various weather conditions, air can bend light so that distant objects appear higher or lower than they should be.
Refraction is the bending of light through…anything, really, but in this case, it’s mostly to do with air. I admitted in that post that there is one other thing that could cause an apparent curvature in the horizon: refraction. However, this is about a different topic. I was going to put my proverbial money where my mouth is and do this experiment myself the next time I flew, but then 2020 hit, so I haven’t flown since then–nor have I have any takers on the challenge. With a ruler to measure against, you don’t have to be at the edge of space, but only up in an airplane to see a little bit of curvature in the horizon. If you hold a ruler against the horizon in view of the camera, it will give you an absolute standard for what is straight. I proposed an experiment that could photograph the curvature of the Earth directly without having to worry about camera distortions, which is what Flat Earthers usually point to to explain away such images. One year ago today, I posted a Challenge to Flat Earthers on this blog.
0 kommentar(er)
