We get sunsets at a very predictable times, with the sun certainly appearing to set behind the horizon.
Please explain how you explanation "Light decays. Also it would be affected by the atmosphere to some degree -- the reason we see reds and purples in the sky at sunset" can possibly explain that. True it does explain the "reds and purples in the sky at sunset".
You claim "Light decays"! No, light travelling through a vacuum does not decay!
Travelling through a clear atmosphere the limit is about 340 km - the Rayleigh Limit due to scattering from Oxygen and Nitrogen molecules. The actual limit varies from only a few kilometres up to this figure, depending on the clarity of the air.
With the Flat Earth model at sunset the sun is (supposedly) around 5000 km high and on the equator at an equinox around 14,400 km away (horizontally). With this geometry, and the effective top of the atmosphere is at about 10 km high.
With these distances the effective path length for sunlight at sunset is only about 30 km! Unless you come up with some very "bendy light".
And while we are at it, the sun certainly appears to stay the same size as it appears to move over the sky, yet its distance from the observer varies from 5,000 km when overhead to roughly 15,000 km at sunset - why does perspective cause it to reduce it size to less than 1/3 the size it is when overhead? The explanation we are given is "atmospheric magnification" - sure, must be a big magnifying glass up there!
That model of the sun has so holes it it's a wonder all the "phlogiston[1]" doesn't leak out.
[1] Stop laughing! Someone DID suggest that (not on this site though).
Why do you feel an incessant need to speak for others? My post was clearly intended for the OP, as an invitation to elaborate his point of view, with less arrogance and more precision.
If you think the Sun looks the same at noon as it does prior to sunset, then you are lying to yourself. To me, when I see it at sunset, it clearly looks blurrier, hazier, with a large amount of flare going on.
Quick question: When you see an airplane going away into the distance, does it or does it not sink into the horizon, regardless of altitude?
- I did not say "the Sun looks the same at noon as it does prior to sunset", I said "sun certainly appears to stay the same size as it appears to move over the sky". So I am NOT lying to myself or anyone else.
Of course the sun looks redder and sometimes distorted and shimmery at sunset!
But, it is absolutely true that (apart from a bit of distortion sunrise and sunset) the sun does stay the SAME SIZE as it moves across the sku! - Yes, an aeroplane dose sink towards the horizon, it DOES NOT appear to sink BELOW the horizon.
And their is a massive difference here the plane maybe at 10,000 m altitude and if the air is perfectly clear be visible (would need a telescope!) for up to hundreds of kilometres. At this distance it would be within a couple of degrees of the horizon.
On the other hand, the FE sun is supposedly at 5,000 km altitude, and at sunset would be roughly (varies a lot depending on season and location) 14,400 km away. At this distance is is still at an elevation from the horizon of about 19°. BIG, BIG difference.
So, YOU tell me how this magic FE sun of YOURS ever could appear to SET BEHIND THE HORIZON or even sink into the horizon?
The moon does essentially the same thing and is easier to observe because it is not so glaringly bright. So, please explain in words simple enough for an apparent dunder-head like me to understand just how this is possible!
Moonset
It may be doctored some but I don't care, still a gorgeous picture. Just needs a hammock there instead of a bench.
In reality though, the flat earth sun is heavily flawed. The speed of sunset/rise at the end/beginning moments , the size of the sun through its "orbit", the cast of the shadows, the way the sun actually " tracks" through the sky. Also the math of the height the sun would have to be does not work. To low it wouldn't cover the required land mass, too high it would be seen at all times even when accounting for atmospheric refraction. My math says you would have a heavy glow from upper atmospheric refraction no matter the sun's position . Also what about the daily radiation we receive that would never coincide with a sun of the FE size? I mean I guess it could be coming from another source, it's plausible though not probable.