sun rays from above clouds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

Earth lies at an average distance of 149.59787 million kilometers (93 million miles) from the Sun.

If the sun is so distant, why don't the sun rays on these few kilometers of ocean look parallel? By the direction of the sun rays, it seems to me that the sun is at most 50 kilometers away.

Go look at a railway line, estimate the angle they appear to form and then use trigonometry to calculate the distance to the nearest station.

Go look at a railway line, estimate the angle they appear to form and then use trigonometry to calculate the distance to the nearest station.

Your sun is supposedly 93 million miles away. It is supposedly 850,000 miles in diameter.
It is supposed to envelope one side of your globe. So the OP puts forward a question as to why it should  spread out at an angle like it does, when in reality, if your sun is what you people say it is, then this shouldn't happen. The rays should be parallel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

Quote

Earth lies at an average distance of 149.59787 million kilometers (93 million miles) from the Sun.

If the sun is so distant, why don't the sun rays on these few kilometers of ocean look parallel? By the direction of the sun rays, it seems to me that the sun is at most 50 kilometers away.

I presume you are talking about crepuscular rays; the rays we see spreading out from the sun. They are in fact parallel but perspective makes them look like they are meeting at a point. In a similar way to if you were standing at the side of a freshly ploughed field, all the furrows would look like they were coming from a point. There is an extra factor though. The crepuscular rays are all hitting the land or sea at an angle; the same angle. However, perspective makes the rays further away look like they are hitting the sea at a different angle to the rays closer by. There will be rays that look like they are hitting the sea at 90° giving the impression that the source of the rays is immediately above that point. Add some broken cloud cover so only a few rays are breaking through and the illusion in complete. It is, however, just that. An illusion.

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/crepuscular-rays3.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/17/65/176502_631cfab2.jpg

http://www.hutton.ac.uk/sites/default/files/events/Squeezed-Middle-Pic345_0.jpg?1353943973

Quote from: acenci on February 18, 2015, 01:26:08 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

Quote

Earth lies at an average distance of 149.59787 million kilometers (93 million miles) from the Sun.

If the sun is so distant, why don't the sun rays on these few kilometers of ocean look parallel? By the direction of the sun rays, it seems to me that the sun is at most 50 kilometers away.

I presume you are talking about crepuscular rays; the rays we see spreading out from the sun. They are in fact parallel but perspective makes them look like they are meeting at a point. In a similar way to if you were standing at the side of a freshly ploughed field, all the furrows would look like they were coming from a point. There is an extra factor though. The crepuscular rays are all hitting the land or sea at an angle; the same angle. However, perspective makes the rays further away look like they are hitting the sea at a different angle to the rays closer by. There will be rays that look like they are hitting the sea at 90° giving the impression that the source of the rays is immediately above that point. Add some broken cloud cover so only a few rays are breaking through and the illusion in complete. It is, however, just that. An illusion.

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/crepuscular-rays3.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/17/65/176502_631cfab2.jpg

http://www.hutton.ac.uk/sites/default/files/events/Squeezed-Middle-Pic345_0.jpg?1353943973

Try again. It doesn't appear like that at all. You can clearly see the angles and the fact that it's seen from a horizontal viewpoint.

Your sun would produce a parallel set of rays if it was what you people believe it to be.

Quote from: herewegoround on February 18, 2015, 02:27:58 AM

Quote from: acenci on February 18, 2015, 01:26:08 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

Quote

Earth lies at an average distance of 149.59787 million kilometers (93 million miles) from the Sun.

If the sun is so distant, why don't the sun rays on these few kilometers of ocean look parallel? By the direction of the sun rays, it seems to me that the sun is at most 50 kilometers away.

I presume you are talking about crepuscular rays; the rays we see spreading out from the sun. They are in fact parallel but perspective makes them look like they are meeting at a point. In a similar way to if you were standing at the side of a freshly ploughed field, all the furrows would look like they were coming from a point. There is an extra factor though. The crepuscular rays are all hitting the land or sea at an angle; the same angle. However, perspective makes the rays further away look like they are hitting the sea at a different angle to the rays closer by. There will be rays that look like they are hitting the sea at 90° giving the impression that the source of the rays is immediately above that point. Add some broken cloud cover so only a few rays are breaking through and the illusion in complete. It is, however, just that. An illusion.

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/crepuscular-rays3.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/17/65/176502_631cfab2.jpg

http://www.hutton.ac.uk/sites/default/files/events/Squeezed-Middle-Pic345_0.jpg?1353943973

Try again. It doesn't appear like that at all. You can clearly see the angles and the fact that it's seen from a horizontal viewpoint.

Your sun would produce a parallel set of rays if it was what you people believe it to be.

Do you understand the concept of perspective? Do you know what vanishing points are? A set of parallel lines will look like they meet at a point. Why would this apply to everything except the rays of the sun?

http://www.teachingtreasures.com.au/teaching-tools/art/Joy-of-Drawing/lesson4streetscene.jpg

https://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/viewing/view3d/images/1ptpersp.gif

http://www.picturescape.co.uk/graphics/class%20graphics/perspective%202.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Crepuscular_rays_over_Plymouth_Sound.jpg

http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/photopg/crepusc.JPG

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/crepuscular-rays-sunset-maze-scott-hansen.jpg

Get the picture?

Quote from: herewegoround on February 18, 2015, 02:27:58 AM

Quote from: acenci on February 18, 2015, 01:26:08 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

Quote

Earth lies at an average distance of 149.59787 million kilometers (93 million miles) from the Sun.

If the sun is so distant, why don't the sun rays on these few kilometers of ocean look parallel? By the direction of the sun rays, it seems to me that the sun is at most 50 kilometers away.

I presume you are talking about crepuscular rays; the rays we see spreading out from the sun. They are in fact parallel but perspective makes them look like they are meeting at a point. In a similar way to if you were standing at the side of a freshly ploughed field, all the furrows would look like they were coming from a point. There is an extra factor though. The crepuscular rays are all hitting the land or sea at an angle; the same angle. However, perspective makes the rays further away look like they are hitting the sea at a different angle to the rays closer by. There will be rays that look like they are hitting the sea at 90° giving the impression that the source of the rays is immediately above that point. Add some broken cloud cover so only a few rays are breaking through and the illusion in complete. It is, however, just that. An illusion.

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/crepuscular-rays3.jpg

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/17/65/176502_631cfab2.jpg

http://www.hutton.ac.uk/sites/default/files/events/Squeezed-Middle-Pic345_0.jpg?1353943973

Try again. It doesn't appear like that at all. You can clearly see the angles and the fact that it's seen from a horizontal viewpoint.

Your sun would produce a parallel set of rays if it was what you people believe it to be.

Based on your logic these rail tracks are getting closer and closer and would soon derail the train that uses them.....

Another thing that's been bothering me is the "satellite" pictures (used in weather forecasts). They might be fake all right, but there are so many of them... and the clouds are moving.

On that same note, I've studied the mathematics used for weather systems and prediction, and they're reliant on RET. A flat Earth would give completely different mechanics (either no rotation, or a rate of rotation that has to increase drastically in the outer plane, for one). It's more than just the satellite photos: the kind of pressure systems we observe the effects of would basically be impossible on a non-sphere.
And said maths is publicly available: open to scrutiny.