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Flat Earth Theory / Re: Polar Orbits

« on: March 20, 2016, 03:43:15 PM »

I also don't understand the phrase on the wikipedia page "The disadvantage to this orbit is that no one spot on the Earth's surface can be sensed continuously from a satellite in a polar orbit." Wouldn't that be the same case with all other types of orbits?

A geostationary orbit rotates once every 24 hours, and in the same direction as the earth rotates (picture it orbiting in the plane of the equator). So, to an observer beneath, the satellite appears stationary. Similarly, any point on the close side of the planet to the satellite remains in view permanently.

Polar orbits can't do that. They can, however, do a clever precession so that they pass over the same point at the same time(s) every day - useful for doing comparisons of locations over time, as the shadows stay pretty constant from day to day - except for seasonal variations - so images are easily compared. What's more, they also orbit several times a day and the relationship holds for everywhere they orbit over, so you can do it to the whole planet.

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Flat Earth Theory / Re: 11 hr direct flight from Auckland to buenos aires

« on: March 20, 2016, 03:28:01 PM »

I'd like a link to that flight.

You can book it yourself at http://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/flight-search/global/en - just put Sydney and Santiago in. QF27 and QF28 are the direct flights and take (at this time of year) 12hr40min SYD-to-SCL and 14hr15min SCL-to-SYD. The discrepancy eastbound/westbound is due to prevailing winds, but the average is about 13hrs30mins.

Flight aware records for the eastbound leg - https://flightaware.com/live/flight/QFA27

The flights certainly exist. The aircraft certainly exist. The passengers certainly exist. What's more, after a 3-ish hour layover, the same plane returns to Sydney. So it's absent from its home port for around 31 hours, claims to have done a round trip to South America, is full of hundreds of people telling Australian Customs and Immigration officials that they boarded in Chile, and last I checked Boeing didn't sell Qantas some kind of super-speed but ultra fuel-efficient 747 for the route. And if it's a hoax, it's one they pull off four times a week. Every week.

It's pretty hard to suggest that the distance from Sydney to Santiago is higher than that shown on a round earth.

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Flat Earth Theory / A refutation of RE that RE-ers will accept - experiment at home on 20th March

« on: March 20, 2016, 03:17:47 PM »

Hey all. If you'd like to disprove, easily, in a way that RE-ers will accept, the premise of a round earth, then tomorrow's the day to do it.

On March 20th, 2016 (it's even a weekend, so most people should have the day available) - when the sun is due south of you (or north, for those few in the southern hemisphere), measure the angle to the sun from the vertical.

If the angle is NOT your latitude, then post here (a photo of your setup would probably help), and no Round Earther will be able to refute the proof. Obviously, some indication of your latitude and proof that the sun was due south/north (i.e. probably not exactly at 12:00 noon, depending on your location) when the measurement was taken would be required.

If you miss the day, you can plan ahead and try again on September 22nd.

I look forward to seeing the simple, irrefutable proof that the round-earth model is wrong. Of course, if your measurements do show that the angle is equal to your latitude, then I'd be fascinated to hear about a non-RE model that accounts for the geometry. I'm guessing some sort of atmospheric lensing, distorting the position of the sun?