i was thinking how a spotlight can light up half of the world but still, the light will shine like a spotlight. i have used one of the more popular maps to explain what im talking about. i have used an online sun rise calculator that was acurate for the uk on the date that i used the data. using the calculator i was able to see how large the area is thats lit up and using a flat earth map i was able to draw the areas that are in daylight on the 3rd of febuary 2012.
fig.1
the yellow areas are the parts of the earth that are in daylight at the time. the sun is rising in england at 07:45 GMT and the sun is setting in new zealand at aprox the same time. time zones mean that the actual area of light maybe out by some degree but you will see how radicaly different and how much that doesnt matter when i demonstrate the FE spotlight sun.
fig.2
this is as close as it is possible to place a spotlight and get the sunset and sunrise times as close as possible. now there are issues with this picture. firstly it shows the north pole is in constant light. however at this time of year it is total darkness. this is widely accepted by the FES and in EnaG. next is the distance of the sun from earth. ok it would be low on the horizon and i have seen some theories on how the sun might not actually hover above the earth. now this may sound like a trolling effort but wouldnt the close proximity of the sun actually melt the ice wall? ok forget that!
the next issue is to do with the equator. the sun never goes too far from the equator in reality. that is why the weather at the equator is almost constant. also this can be shown with a graph showing average temperatures in the north,south and at the equator:
red = north
green = south
blue = equator
fig.3
this data is consistant with the angle that the sun is observed in all these parts of the world during the seasons. when it is summer it is high above the area and when its winter the sun appears to be low on the horizon. this is due to the angle the light hits the ground; the more direct the angle is the more energy.
fig.4
so so far i have demonstrated what area need to be lit up during a cold febuary in the northern hemiplane. the results i got during the summer were even more extreme.
fig.5
first note that i have also significantly reduced the size of the spotlight here, if i made it to scale the results would be even more extreme.
ok so this picture shows the suns position during the summer months. the sun is observed more directly over head during the summer and is demonstrated in fig.4. it is most aparent that if the sun was at this position it would light the whole earth and the earth will be in total daylight during the northern hemiplanes summer also note that both poles are again lit up but as the whole earth is in daylight it is to be exspected.
i was trying to find a way to demonstrate how it is not possible to see the sun all the time in the north during the summer, but what i have stumbled across is something much greater. and the whole idea of a spotlight sun should be revised.
some people say my point is sometimes hard to understand, if you need further clarification on any of the issues ive raised feel free to ask me.
ref.
http://www.sunrisesunsetmap.com/http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=11211.0