Perspective of the sun

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thesublime514

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Perspective of the sun
« on: June 03, 2007, 09:19:34 AM »
FE'ers believe the sun never goes down 'below' the Earth; it just gets further away causing this effect.  I can understand that if something gets far enough away, it might be obscured by hills or something, and get really small, and perhaps appear as if it has gone 'below' the Earth.  But this raises a question: If the sun does just get further away (far enough away to make the half the earth seem completely dark), why does it always appear the same size in the sky?

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∂G/∂x

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Re: Perspective of the sun
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2007, 09:27:48 AM »
Their answer is 'glare'.

They (Tom) will throw the book at you on this one, probably Chapter 10?

The thread 'Wave Crests and Sunsets' shows that sunset on FE is impossible. Your question is perfectly reasonable, but it has been 'answered' before. What they don't explain is how the moon stays the same size all the time (it's moving away too apparently). It's better to think about the moon because it is quite clearly a hard-edged object and therefore a change in size is not due to 'glare' like (in Rowbotham's example) a far away street lamp might appear larger.

Edit: The sun also has an obvious edge, but its safer to look at the moon to check  ;D
Quote from: Tom Bishop
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Quote from: Proverbs 24:17
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thesublime514

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Re: Perspective of the sun
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2007, 09:37:46 AM »
That makes sense.  Replace the word 'sun' with 'moon' in my question.

And one other thing.  Why is it that you see a different set of stars in the sky when you travel south?

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∂G/∂x

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Re: Perspective of the sun
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2007, 09:54:39 AM »
Apparently that's due to perspective, with the stars setting and rising the same way the sun does(n't).

FEers are yet to satisfactorily explain the motion of the stars....
Quote from: Tom Bishop
The universe has already expanded forever

Quote from: Proverbs 24:17
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth.