Flat Earther spends $20,000 on DIY experiment that accidentally proved the planet is ROUND
(www.dailymail.co.uk)
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The Earth is not round. It is actually a little pear shaped. And the gravitational anomalies are called J Terms. When you want to calculate a line of site communication method (radio (FM and up) or laser) you use a 4/3rds Earth formula. Important for drones and military communications. I am an Astronautical Engineer.
Within normal expectations, the Earth is round. It has a slight oblateness due to rotational effects. There is an even slighter "pear-shaped-ness" due to the facts of life, but we are well below the level at which anything would be noticeable on a basketball-sized globe. There are higher order terms varying in latitude and longitude, relevant for low-Earth orbit determination.
The 4/3-Earth propagation model is a handy approximation to the atmospheric refraction of radio waves, but it is valid only at low altitude and low elevation angles. The refraction effect dwindles with increasing altitude. I don't think that visible light and radio have identical refraction effects, though they could be close.
We're on the same page. I am also an aeronautical / astronautical engineer.
You are correct. Just wanted to make it more layman friendly. Good to find a fellow Astro person. Love your handle. It was one of my many program initiatives while at the Pentagon.
My last hurrah was YAL-1A. Successful target engagement on 11 Feb 2010. Not that I pushed any buttons, but I did edit the winning proposal and did preliminary designs in the 1970s.
Cool.! I was the driving force behind several directed energy initiatives. I was also the guy behind a lot of other what I call "cool toys".
Really? Which pole is the fat end of the pear? I thought it was the equator that bulged.
kek
Yes the equator is bulged. The North is the slightly smaller end.
Do these pants make my ass look big? What Revo?! Like a Pear?! Why you insensitive Anon-could-be-correct feewing basher! Kek Kek.
See Pepe. See. Kek.
Based 9n the pear shape of the earth and the gravitational pull of the sun, the milky way and other larger bodies, how does the moon stay in a perfectly synchronize orbit?