[LoveScience]

So according to FET the Sun and Moon rotate around the plane of the Earth from a point which is located above the NP. That is shown in the animated GIF on the FAQ page of the website.  Roughly how high above the Earth is the Sun thought to be?  Same for the Moon?

[MattyWS]

According to the flat earth wiki;

"Later researchers have estimated the sun to be at about 3000 miles above the surface of the earth, with the stars at about 100 miles above that."

https://wiki.tfes.org/Distance_to_the_Sun

According to my (very quick) maths, that would make the flat earth sun about 44.9 km in diameter when compared to round earths sun (1391016km). Although if someone else can chime in if that's wrong.

[LoveScience]

I guess the Sun would have to be a lot closer in a flat Earth model otherwise what would there be to stop the Sun illuminating the whole Earth at once? The Sun emits light uniformly over the whole of its surface area so if it was shining onto a flat surface then it would light up the whole of that flat surface leaving no night.   

Even Aristarchus using the angle between the Sun and the first quarter Moon obtained an estimate of the Earth to Sun distance of 5 million miles.  Bit of a difference from 3000 miles!

Are they saying all the stars are the same distance away?

[MattyWS]

I guess the Sun would have to be a lot closer in a flat Earth model otherwise what would there be to stop the Sun illuminating the whole Earth? Are they saying all the stars are the same distance away?

This was partly my question regarding Antarctic summers being day time 24/7 even when the sun is on the opposite side of the globe, while land between the sun and antarctic is in shade... if the sun could reach that far, why isn't it lighting up the whole of earth? I haven't got an answer from anyone so far.

[MattyWS]

Are they saying all the stars are the same distance away?

Yes apparently, but we can measure the distances correctly with redshifts... Not sure what reason FE'er would have for discarding this.

EDIT: I did just find this;

https://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=71459.0

[LoveScience]

So I wonder how they explain the distance variations in type 1a supernovae and Cepheid variable stars which are used by astronomers as standard candles in distance measurement?

[LoveScience]

Still no responses from any FE believers out there... come on guys

[Curious Squirrel]

Still no responses from any FE believers out there... come on guys

It's only barely been over an hour since you posted. Have patience. I'd suggest searching the forums for redshift in the meantime. I recall this topic being discussed somewhat recently, but I can't recall the results. I know a subset of FE regards astronomy as little better than witchcraft, but there's some other responses too I just can't recall.

[Curiosity File]

I've put on the table a challenge to FET and RET to depict an accurate to scale model of the sun 3,000 miles up from the flat earth.
It would look something like this.
2 feet from edge to edge and the sun 3 inches up.
Nothing in FET would work, is why you wont get a logical scientific or mathematical calculation from anyone in FES. 

[LoveScience]

I know a subset of FE regards astronomy as little better than witchcraft

That is more than a bit harsh for what is arguably one of the most popular and long standing branches or science throughout the world.  Why on Earth (no pun intended) would anybody think that?

[Curiosity File]

I know a subset of FE regards astronomy as little better than witchcraft

That is more than a bit harsh for what is arguably one of the most popular and long standing branches or science throughout the world.  Why on Earth (no pun intended) would anybody think that?

Most stuff FEers believes in is magical, why would you not believe that they think of most things that disprove FE to be witchcraft?   

[LoveScience]

It's only barely been over an hour since you posted

Well... waited over 24 hours now and still no meaningful replies from the FE brigade.   I want to know why the Sun acts like a spotlight to illuminate just a small region of the flat Earth (the 'day' part). Obviously it would need to in order to keep that theory alive. But having learned quite a lot about the Sun including some degree level solar astrophysics courses I just can't understand how that is possible.

[LoveScience]

Still a stony silence from the flat Earthers out there. There are loads of websites that provide a detailed description of how the Earth to Sun distance has been measured over the years and all reach the same answer of (in the order of) 150 million km.  In contrast other than the FES I cannot find one other reference online that suggests only 3000 miles to the Sun. 

So  tell me FE'ers.... how do you reach a figure of 3000 miles?

[Bad Puppy]

I'm pretty sure flat earthers have lives, too.  And I'm sure they'd encourage you use the search function look through past posts to find what has most probably already been discussed at length.

There is indeed a fair amount of unknowns involved when it comes to FET, because there's no verifiable scientific explanation to why the the sun and moon rotate the way they do, but the scientific proof of the RE sun, moon, and other celestial bodies is dismissed.  According to FET, I drive to work faster than a solar CME travels.

[LoveScience]

Of course flat earthers have lives. never disputed that. In a way I admire flat earthers. They certainly have a very vivid imagination and their committmemt to what they believe in is only to be respected.

This is not the first time alternative theories to popular scientific models have been put forward. The Steady State Theory for example was put forward as an alternative cosmological model over the Hot Big Bang Theory. SST however was ultimately rejected by the scientific world due to overwhelming and compelling observational evidence which agreed with the predictions provided by the HBBT.*

FET will not gain any widespread acceptance until it can do the same and for the reasons that you outline. It seems to me that any evidence that is put on the table and presented to flat Earth believers that doesn't support their beliefs is simply dismissed for no other reason than that. It doesn't support their beliefs.

Just one question for you.... if FET was ever shown to be correct.. please tell me what car you drive cos I want one too!

* please don't send me a warning for going off topic by talking about different cosmological models... I'm just using it as an example!

[juner]

Still a stony silence from the flat Earthers out there. There are loads of websites that provide a detailed description of how the Earth to Sun distance has been measured over the years and all reach the same answer of (in the order of) 150 million km.  In contrast other than the FES I cannot find one other reference online that suggests only 3000 miles to the Sun. 

So  tell me FE'ers.... how do you reach a figure of 3000 miles?

Stop bumping threads so frequently. If someone wants to reply, they will. Warned.

[AATW]

I guess the Sun would have to be a lot closer in a flat Earth model otherwise what would there be to stop the Sun illuminating the whole Earth at once? The Sun emits light uniformly over the whole of its surface area so if it was shining onto a flat surface then it would light up the whole of that flat surface leaving no night.

Even at 3,000 miles it would be shining over the whole earth. What would stop it?
When I was new here I thought they believed that the sun was a literal spotlight and I asked a few times how that worked and got no response.
Actually, they don't believe that. Mostly they believe that the sun does shine light in all directions. In the real world that would mean it shines over the whole plane so we'd be in perpetual daytime.
Their fudges to get around that are some weird version of perspective where things disappear behind merging perspective lines or EA which bends light upwards. The second of these would sort of work. I'm pretty sure there's no actual evidence of this effect even existing but if it did then it's a much better explanation than "perspective".

If the sun were as close as 3,000 miles then you'd be able to measure the angle to it from a few places known distances apart and use the different measurements to triangulate and show the distance.
I have suggested this be done multiple to no response although I did once get a reply from someone (I forget who), they said that he had seen that done and would find the results and post them. He never did.

[MattyWS]

Even if the sun was close and light bends the way FE'ers have depicted, it still wouldn't explain antarctic summer, not even slightly.



Besides that the sun has been measured, it's possible to measure in multiple ways but here's a nice basic explanation (I cut out the most of the video because it's just a guy insulting him while asking the question);