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So the sun rotates around the earth, shining down like a spotlight. This is something that I have heard as well, and that image I can at least understand. Why, then, would it appear to dip below the horizon, if it remains above it the whole time?
Yes, the sun is a spotlight. Many speculate that it's actually not even the "source" of the light, but more like a portal of some greater light source.
Good question. It's a matter of the limitation of the human eye/perspective. The greater distance, the more things far off collapse into a single point. It's just the way we see. This is why you can only see a boat on the ocean out to be about 3-4 miles. That's about the limit, dependent on weather conditions of course. If you've ever stood in a really long hallway, or looked down a long street at night, you'll notice in the first example, the floor and ceiling eventually collapse and converge together, and in the latter, the lights eventually meet the street the further away they are. Our vision simply collapses into a single point.
There are literally hundreds, maybe thousands of videos out there now from people who used the Nikon P900 or P1000 camera and have zoomed into boats, oil rigs, islands, etc. that can't be seen from the same location on the beach with the naked eye. They zoom in, then zoom out (no zoom - normal human perspective where nothing can be seen), then zoom back in again where they can see even the hulls of boats 7,9,10, 15, even 17 miles out to sea. Again, this depends on weather conditions.
Needless to say, this idea that the boats "disappear under the curve" has long been debunked by these videos. As the supposed curvature of the earth is 8 inches squared per mile, something 7 miles out should be 12 feet below the curve (if you're 5 foot tall) while 17 miles out should be hidden by 135 feet of earth curvature.
That being said, it's rare to see further than about 8 miles out due to weather/humidity/temperature/evaporation etc. It's akin to looking through plates of glass. You can see through 2, 5, 10, maybe even 20 plates of glass, but eventually as you add plates, their collective imperfections and thickness distort the images beyond them until nothing can be seen at all.
This is why you can't see 100 or 500 or 1000 miles, even on a perfect day. It has nothing to do with curvature, but instead numerous atmospheric distortions --- kind of like a mirage.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Sort of. I mean I get why the sun may appear closer to the horizon as it gets further away. Your boat example explains that well. Also the plates of glass answer does explain the whole phenomenon of boats “disappearing” over the horizon.
But why then when boats move further away they appear smaller, but the sun appears larger?
If you've noticed, the moon appears largest when it first appears in the early night dusk sky, closer to ground level from your visual perspective. As it gets later and higher in the sky, the moon gets smaller and smaller. Likewise, as the sun gets closer to your visual ground-level perspective during dusk, it appears larger and larger (sometimes, not all the time).
Basically this is a compression of sorts, due to visual perspective.
As I think I mentioned earlier, how do you explain the sun appearing larger from a globe-model perspective with the earth apparently rotating away from the stationary sun?
Regardless of whichever model you choose, we both know the sun isn't REALLY getting bigger or smaller, it's a "trick of light" either way, right?
And I think it should be made clear that this phenomenon doesn't happen all the time. It depends on location, time of year, and atmospheric conditions.
Anyway, I'm interested to hear what you believe is happening assuming the globe model? Please share your thoughts.
Thanks
Well, this isn't consistent. Yes, the moon and the sun both look larger as they move further away, but boats and planes do not. Why is it that we see the refraction trick with the sun and the moon but not with anything else?
With the globe earth model, the explanation is given very similar to your multiple planes of glass explanation. On a globe, when the sun is high in the air, you have less refraction from the atmosphere, vs when it is lower to the ground (from perspective). It also is explained by the fact that the sun is moving behind the earth as the earth rotates. However, it doesn't make sense in the flat earth model.
I am open to either, but I am only interested in discussing the flat earth model with you. I have heard plenty to disprove the globe earth model, but I am looking for confirmation of the flat earth, since there are many experiences I have that make the flat earth model confusing.