Don t Talk to Me or My Flat Earth Ever Again
How to debate a apartment-Earther
Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute, host of Ask a Spaceman and Space Radio , and author of How to Die in Space .
A number of ancient cultures believed that Earth is apartment considering, but, they didn't know whatever better. But incredibly, in that location remain people today who still believe that the Earth is flat, despite centuries of show proving the reverse.
And so, why practice people believe this, and is it even worth getting into a debate over?
Surprisingly, while at that place are mountains of proof, the discussion around the idea of a "flat Globe" has nothing to do with evidence at all.
Related: How big is Earth?
Looking around
To put it bluntly, we know more well-nigh the curvature of Earth than almost any other topic in the realm of physical science. There are so many experiments, observations and demonstrations that have, time and time once again, revealed the curve of the Earth.
And it all starts with the horizon.
As objects recede from you, they begin to look smaller and slowly disappear in a very unique fashion: first their bottoms become subconscious, so their tops. If yous've ever watched a transport on the horizon, y'all've seen this for yourself. Similarly, from a bully altitude, the tops of tall objects like mountains are visible well earlier their bases.
And Earth's curvature is clearly apparent from high altitudes, as Capt. Albert Stevens of the U.S. Army Air Corps showed in the 1930s. In December 1930, for example, Stevens snapped a photograph looking due west while flying at an distance of 21,000 feet (6,400 meters) in a higher place Villa Mercedes, Argentina.
"The Andes Mountains, 287 miles [462 kilometers] away, and although taller than the aeroplane's altitude, lay beneath the sensible horizon, marked by the white horizontal line in the photograph," NASA officials wrote in a clarification of the flying. "The Earth's curvature explains this phenomenon, as described in the diagram accompanying the photo. The Earth's curvature is also visible laterally in the photograph, although the effect is subtle as the prototype encompasses just 1/360 of the Globe'due south circumference."
And in November 1935, Stevens and Capt. Orvil Anderson took a photo from a balloon that lifted off from Rapid Metropolis, Southward Dakota and soared to a maximum altitude of 72,395 feet (22,066 m).
"The photograph showed the troposphere-stratosphere boundary and the actual curvature of the Earth and demonstrated the potential for long-range reconnaissance from high-altitude balloons," NASA officials wrote.
Globe's atmosphere is capable of playing funny tricks on our optics, with dissimilar layers of air angle light into interesting directions. This phenomenon, a side effect of Earth's curvature, isn't a sure-burn guarantee of our planet'south curve, but it's a first.
But even if you lot can't look to the horizon for prove, you can look upwardly.
Different stars are visible from different parts of Earth, in two very peculiar means. First, there is the division betwixt the northern and southern hemispheres. And so, you lot can come across Polaris, the star most straight to a higher place Earth's north geographic pole, quite easily in northern latitudes.
Only as yous travel south, approaching the equator, Polaris sinks lower and lower toward the horizon. Once you've crossed that boundary, yous tin can't see it at all — it'southward blocked past the curve of Earth in that direction.
Similarly, as yous travel south, new constellations await your delighted gaze — ones that would be completely obscured past Earth's bend if you stayed up north.
There'south another trick you tin can play, too. If you live in an especially apartment area, you'll be able to see stars down to the horizon but no farther (considering Earth is in your style). But if yous travel up — say, to the peak of a mount — you become a better vantage point and can see stars further down than you could before.
In fact, the ninth century Abbasid Caliph al-Ma-mun sent an trek to do exactly that and used those observations to measure Earth's circumference.
Related: Earth'southward atmosphere: Composition, climate & atmospheric condition
Circles everywhere
You might not be able to mount such a scientific investigation to your nearest mountain peak. But at that place is something you tin do to witness the curvature of Globe in the condolement of your ain backyard. You lot just take to be lucky.
During a lunar eclipse, Globe passes between the sun and the moon, assuasive World to cast its shadow on the moon. That shadow is e'er, always, always a circumvolve, no matter where yous are on the planet, no thing the timing of the eclipse. Ever.
The only way to e'er bandage a circular shadow is if the affair casting the shadow — in this case, Earth — is a globe. It's a thing of geometry.
And that'southward not to mention the countless photos of Earth taken by orbiting satellites and eyewitness testimonies from astronauts hailing from dozens of different countries, space programs and private organizations.
Our curved Earth also aligns perfectly with all of physics. Additionally, all of the other planets ever discovered too announced round, because that's how gravity likes things.
If you lot utilise gravity to, say, trust your GPS to requite yous accurate positions and calculate trajectories, then that aforementioned force volition class material the size of Earth into a brawl.
Related: What is the temperature on Earth?
Arguing from show
I don't think this discussion is actually almost the actual prove or the scientific process, however.
People who believe that Globe is flat aren't coming to that decision from the same types of observations. Instead, they believe that we are being misled and lied to, that scientists (including me) want you to believe that Globe is round, despite its flatness.
So the question isn't "Why do people believe in a flat World?" just rather "Why do people believe in a conspiracy?" And the answer is the same reason it always is: a lack of trust.
Many people don't trust the society around them, most notably the representatives of that society. That trust oft falls even further when it comes to elite representatives of that guild, which include government officials, members of academia and scientists like me.
By claiming that Earth is apartment, people are actually expressing a deep distrust of scientists and science itself.
And so if you lot observe yourself talking to a flat-Earther, skip the bear witness and arguments and ask yourself how y'all can build trust.
Boosted resources
Yous tin can learn more about the kickoff photographs that conspicuously showed Earth'south curvature in this NASA story. This explainer from Arizona State Academy lays out clearly and concisely the plentiful prove for our planet's spherical shape. (Most spherical, rather: Earth'southward rotation causes it to be slightly squashed at the poles and swollen at the equator, a shape known as an oblate spheroid.) And this piece by fivethirtyeight.com explains why people believe in conspiracy theories such equally the apartment-World idea.
Bibliography
- Bergreen, L. "Over the Edge of the Earth: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the World." William Morrow, 2003. https://world wide web.amazon.com/Over-Edge-Earth-Terrifying-Circumnavigation/dp/006093638X
- Nataraj, Northward. "Earth and Infinite: Photographs from the Archives of NASA." Chronicle Books, 2015. https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Space-Photographs-Archives-NASA/dp/1452134359
- Novella, S. "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What'southward Really Existent in a World Increasingly Full of Fake." Chiliad Central Publishing, 2018. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538760533/
Editor's note: This article was originally published on Sept. 8, 2020. An updated version was posted on February. 4, 2022.
Larn more by listening to the episode " How do nosotros know the World is curved? " on the Inquire A Spaceman podcast, available on iTunes and on the Spider web at http://world wide web.askaspaceman.com . Thanks to Asher F. for the questions that led to this piece! Ask your own question on Twitter using #AskASpaceman or by post-obit Paul @PaulMattSutter and facebook.com/PaulMattSutter .
Join our Space Forums to go on talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you lot have a news tip, correction or annotate, let usa know at: community@space.com.
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