Sure, that’s all true and I mentioned the mountains in my first post. I think there are too many variables to make sweeping generalizations since yeah, certain situations will definitely lead to wildly different views as a function of the Earth’s geometry.
But I would still stand by the claim that if you were standing on the ground and there was nothing with too much elevation difference, things would look pretty much identical.
I kind of wonder at this.
Imagine we are on an infinite flat plane. I can see as far as my eyes are capable of resolving.
You are saying that this would be indistinguishable from a round earth (also presume it is all flat) where the horizon is three miles away?
Not trying to be snarky…I am honestly trying to visualize the difference for myself and I can’t. My gut says there would be a notable difference but I can’t image it in my mind’s eye.
The Flat Earth Society is obviously a joke, but they have a sample map of the flat earth in their FAQ. It’s basically the round earth lifted up into a flat disc.
It would in principle be distinguishable, but mountains aren’t the best landmarks to go by, since a whole mountain looks pretty much the same as the top of a larger mountain. For that matter, the same is also true of many trees-- I’m not sure of any natural landmark that you could really notice a difference. If you’d seen the mountain up close and knew exactly what it looked like, you could tell from a distance whether you were seeing the whole thing or just the tip, but it still wouldn’t exactly jump out at you.
Yep. I base this on my trig calculation showing the infinite plane from 3 miles on occupies such a small angular range in your field of view as to be negligible. Therefore anything short out there will get so foreshortened as to be invisible.
Thinking about more now though, it could be that in the round case, the curvature causes this barrier to occur even earlier, say 1 mile away. Then the inifinite plane might indeed look different. Too tired to attempt the math now…
FWIW:
The Earth has a surface are of nearly 200 million square miles. So, even if you flattened it, if you are in the middle I seriously doubt an infinite plane is distinguishable from the finite plane.
Human eyes would not discern the difference.
Not sure which way the math is simpler (guessing the infinite plane) but since we are considering what it’d look like or you or me I think either calculation would be suitable.
That said IANAGeometry fiend. I could be (probably am) missing something.
The map given on Wiki even explains the ocean question: The ice wall we know as Antarctica encircles the edge of the Earth and contains the oceans.
I wonder if the Flat Earth exists in 3D space, or if it’s rock/turtles all the way down? If it’s floating in space, you think gravity goes the other way on the bottom? Flying a plane over the edge of Antarctica, then diving down to come out on the underside would be quite a ride.
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This fascinating website, Panoramas, has examples of longest lines of sight on Earth. There’s a photo hereof one of the longest, from Mount Sandford to Denali, Alaska, 227 miles. As you can see, even in good visibility conditions it’s very difficult to make out Denali. 800 miles on a flat Earth would be out of the question, I think.
At first blush, the difference between three miles and infinity seems overwhelming. But remember, three miles is the limit of visibility only for flat objects–for example, a circle painted on the ground. Objects with height can be seen, even on a curved Earth, at a greater distance. They disappear base-first below the horizon, but that effect isn’t really noticeable unless you’re dealing with isolated objects and an unobstructed view–as with ships at sea.
To visualize better, think in terms of angles. Imagine standing on a boat with your eyes five feet off the ground. From zenith to horizon the sky fills 90.018 degrees. On the infinite flat earth it fills 90.000 degrees.
The difference is a circular band 0.018 degrees wide, running around the horizon. That’s the additional view you get on the infinite flat earth. That band is about one thirtieth the diameter of the full moon. That’s not a lot.
Now granted, on land, there may be features within that band. But even if the earth had no atmosphere, obstruction from intervening objects comes into play. The Rockies are 13,000 feet higher than I am in Chicago, but they’re also 1,200 miles away. They would be blocked by a hill 130 feet high that was 12 miles away, or a two-story building 1.2 miles away. And remember, to eyes 5 feet above ground level, a two-story building 1.2 miles away is pretty small. And the real earth does have an tmosphere, of course, which makes speculation about anything more than a couple hundred miles away moot.
Forever, to be specific.
The answer is Kansas.
Probably off topic, but do Flat-Earthers REALLY believe in a flat earth, or is it just a complex joke?
Here’s an example. I just made this Google Map. It shows a point on a hill on Highway 115 northeast of Orono, Ontario. At this point, as you drive south, you crest a hill and the highway bends to the southwest. If you look to your right and the air is clear enough (a big if), you can see the CN Tower and the upper parts of the skyscrapers of Toronto on the southwestern horizon. The distance is a little over 74 km.
In the linked Google picture, it’s completely invisible; either the air wasn’t clear enough, or the camera didn’t have enough resolution. But the skyline is there, in the grey band along the horizon.