Flat Earthers - I don't get it, at all.

[capnkirk52]

Lastly, as the earth is NOT flat, we’d often spot periscope contacts at the edge of visual detection range. These were referred to as “hull down on the horizon” meaning we’d only see a portion of the ship’s mast as the target approached from over the horizon. Due to the earth’s curvature, as visual range decreased, more of the mast and hull would become visible to the periscope operator. Although not spherical, you flat earthers can suck deez nuts.

Cool info! Brings up other questions like how far could you "see" through the water with sonar? Just like above ground, say you were in 50 feet deep in 100 feet of water and the ocean floor was relatively flat, could you ping another sub miles away or would the curve of the earths crust below the water stop that? Maybe I dont' know how sonar works either.

Do torpedoes have to constantly trim down to follow the curve? I literally know nothing about this. Can they even shoot that far?

 

[KilledbyKenne]

I'd say I can see the bottom half.

I went through the trouble of researching where you live and doing the math for you and the best you can do is "I can see the bottom half"?

Yes. Have you even bothered to google the curvature math? Here's one. It even accounts for refraction.
Metabunk: Earth's Curve Horizon, Bulge, Drop, and Hidden Calculator

It actually isn't 57 feet, but it's close enough that I haven't corrected you.

As far as the stop sign mystery, you'd need a surveyor to prove that 12 mile distance is all the exact same elevation. I'm betting it isn't.

 

[TaraFirma]

LOL. I started watching “Behind the Curve” for entertainment purposes, and he lost me right in the first minute he was sitting at his computer when he said “you don’t know that, nobody has a spaceship.” I mean... didn’t we put up a few “spaceships” over the last 50ish years. So yeah, spaceships have gone up and taken pictures of the earth. So... there’s that.

 

[capnkirk52]

I went through the trouble of researching where you live and doing the math for you and the best you can do is "I can see the bottom half"?

It actually isn't 57 feet, but it's close enough that I haven't corrected you.

As far as the stop sign mystery, you'd need a surveyor to prove that 12 mile distance is all the exact same elevation. I'm betting it isn't.

You're right. Center, CO is 7645 and Hooper CO is 7553. Maybe that's why I can see it. I dunno.

Edit* My bad I used 12 miles and five feet for the eye level and the geometric hidden is 57 feet. lol. I didn't use the refracted value.

 

[slow poke]

How old are you? What's your profession? What other conspiracies do you believe in? Are you an anti vaxxer to?

 

[capnkirk52]

How old are you? What's your profession? What other conspiracies do you believe in? Are you an anti vaxxer to?

39 year old potato farmer. No anti-vax here. Did the CIA kill JFK? Probably. Have we been to the moon? Maybe. Are there satellites, yes. Are they just in low earth orbit? probably. Do I belive NASA is a hoax? I don't know, there are so many people in those loops that it would be hard to fake. Do I think some of they stuff they put out is CGI? Yes. I dunno what other conspiracies there are.

Is the earth flat? I don't know. I said earlier there are observations that go both ways but there is nothing wrong debating it. People get so angry over anything these days that nobody can talk to each other anymore. Like I said before, round, flat, cylinder, triangle doesn't make a difference. We are all still here and should be good people.

Your turn. How old are you and what's your profession? What conspiracy theories do you believe in?

 

[L8APEX]

Refraction is an interesting phenomena...
Whenever you see a sunset over a fairly flat areas (ie the ocean) the red light is refracted enough that even thought the sun is still visible when it dips into the ocean, it technically has set below the horizon. It seems to slow down the lower it gets as the blue and green wavelengths drop off.
The Physics of Sunsets | ScienceBlogs


Whenever I hear the flat earth arguments I think of this video...
NSFW


Oddly enough I took these pictures Friday. Usually on a clear day I can start to see Pike's peak 10mins east of Limon. By the time I'm on 86 I can get some good views of Cheyenne Mountain and up the rest of the lower portion of the front range (weather permitting) as seen below.

Here's the data for anyone wanting to play around with the math.
Lat 39,17;6.6407999
Lon 103;58;53.81030
5714.271654 FT

 

[capnkirk52]

Sweet pics, good info. I wish that terrain was flat so we could see how much of Pikes Peak was visible. It looks like you're ~84 miles away.

 

[KilledbyKenne]

You're right. Center, CO is 7645 and Hooper CO is 7553. Maybe that's why I can see it. I dunno.

Edit* My bad I used 12 miles and five feet for the eye level and the geometric hidden is 57 feet. lol. I didn't use the refracted value.

That 92 ft of elevation change is definitely the missing piece to your puzzle.

Are there satellites, yes. Are they just in low earth orbit? probably.

You do realize what an orbit is, right? Basic explaination is an object moving forward so fast that it is constantly missing the horizon as it falls towards earth. If the earth were flat, they would need an endless fuel supply to stay in the sky instead of crashing into the surface.

So questioning the spheroid earth and acknowledging low orbit satellites kind of contradict each other.

 

[FJohnny]

You do realize what an orbit is, right? Basic explaination is an object moving forward so fast that it is constantly missing the horizon as it falls towards earth. If the earth were flat, they would need an endless fuel supply to stay in the sky instead of crashing into the surface.

That's right! If they needed an endless supply of fuel to keep it flying along the flat earth they might have to cover the space station with solar panels......

Wait.....Isn't the space station covered with solar panels?

The mystery deepens.

 

[KilledbyKenne]

That's right! If they needed an endless supply of fuel to keep it flying along the flat earth they might have to cover the space station with solar panels......

Wait.....Isn't the space station covered with solar panels?

The mystery deepens.

How did we go from satellites being in orbit to the ISS? Lol

And FYI, the ISS does not use the solar panels to power engines that keep it in the sky. They periodically use spacecraft attached to the station to adjust the orbit since low earth orbit isn't a perfect vacuum. But they don't run full time like would be needed if the space station was just flying above a flat earth. I'm assuming the solar panels are more for the electronics housed within.

 

[capnkirk52]

And FYI, the ISS does not use the solar panels to power engines that keep it in the sky.

He was joking. lol.

As far as orbit goes, they could still orbit a flat circular disc earth.

As for elevation change, wouldn't it be even harder to see since the elevation is lower? If it was higher elevation it would be easier, right?

 

[KilledbyKenne]

He was joking. lol.

As far as orbit goes, they could still orbit a flat circular disc earth.

As for elevation change, wouldn't it be even harder to see since the elevation is lower? If it was higher elevation it would be easier, right?

So how would they orbit a flat disc when they would be constantly be drawn to earth by the gravitational force?

The change in elevation extends the "horizon", which changes the curvature calculation.

 

[FJohnny]

And FYI, the ISS does not use the solar panels to power engines that keep it in the sky. They periodically use spacecraft attached to the station to adjust the orbit since low earth orbit isn't a perfect vacuum. But they don't run full time like would be needed if the space station was just flying above a flat earth. I'm assuming the solar panels are more for the electronics housed within.

LOL. That's what 'they' tell you, anyway.

Keep in mind, it's not like they need a huge amount of power to keep it moving when the whole thing is weightless out there. One solar cell, a typical water cooler bottle of water and an electrolysis setup. Convert the water to hydrogen and O2 for bigger blasts or just use the oxygen as a puffer like one of those compressed air cans you blow the dust off of keyboards with. (Look up the documentary that shows those compressed air things moving stuff around out there. I think it had Sandra Bullock in it. "Gravity. A True Story.") One five gallon plastic bottle should keep it going the right way for about 6 months or so.

That all assumes that 'they' weren't lying to us about it being zero gravity up there. If that's bull then there's probably not even a space station and we are back to square one in this whole discussion.

 

[capnkirk52]

So how would they orbit a flat disc when they would be constantly be drawn to earth by the gravitational force?

The change in elevation extends the "horizon", which changes the curvature calculation.

Don't know. I'm just saying it's technically possible to orbit a 2D object like the flat earth in this case.

Interesting about theory about the horizon. Do you have a way to measure that? I haven't seen any of the curve calculators that have elevation in them.

Why doesn't the horizon drop when we go higher? Like if you took a balloon to 100,000 feet, why doesn't the horizon drop 360 degrees around us?

 

[AustinSN]

 

[capnkirk52]

LOL.

 

[slow poke]

I would love to see a picture of the other side of the earth. Why don't you guys just get together and travel to the edge and prove the world and scientists wrong. You'll all be famous

 

[KilledbyKenne]

Interesting about theory about the horizon. Do you have a way to measure that? I haven't seen any of the curve calculators that have elevation in them.

Think of it this way. Set the stop sign elevation as zero. You are 92ft in elevation higher than the stop sign. Plus the 5' you gave yourself for your curvature in your calculation. So your eyesight level is 97' higher than the stop sign.

Here is the calculation for those parameters:

Basically the elevation change is enough to cancel out the curvature making the stop sign 100% visible as long as your vision is up to the task.

That is the simplest way I can explain it for you.

 

[slow poke]

I really don't understand why some of you guys are entertaining this stupidity. We don't have to prove the earth is a sphere (i know, close approximation to) these time wasters have to prove it's flat or what every other dumb ****ing shape they think it is.