For those who don't know, Martian solar eclipses suck compared to ours. The near equal relative size of the sun and moon to Earth is why we get such awesome eclipses.
Perks of having a planet-sized object slam into your planet during its Hadean Eon.
Since our moon is moving away from us we’ll have these sorts of eclipses in the future. The fact that we’re living at a time when they’re the same apparent size is pretty amazing.
I read somewhere that this phenomenon is so unlikely that if we ever need to represent our planet in an intergalactic context, the solar eclipse would be a good candidate for a symbol to put on a flag [citation needed]
I’m down and anyone who isn’t hasn’t seen a total eclipse yet. I saw my first one last year and by the time it finally came up I was starting to be a little fed up of hearing about it and slightly skeptical about how big of a deal it was. Then the day came, it got dark in a way my senses were not ready for and finally Totality happened, I saw the diamond ring with my own eyes and I lost my marbles at how fucking deeply existential this moment felt. 10/10 would watch again
Is flat earth still a thing? I haven’t been hearing as much about it lately but maybe people just stopped caring.
I do wonder how long a movement that can be easily disproven by literally anyone can sustain itself. I mean sure, the true believers will stay but if anyone can go out and confirm the roundness of the earth themselves it makes it a bit tough to keep people who are on the fence…
You haven't heard as much from them because they are being drowned out by MAGAs. Though, TBF, the overlap between flat earthers and MAGAs is pretty large.
There's actually a trip to Antarctica to see the midnight sun funded by globe earthers planned soon. Many flat earthers were invited, but most have chickened out and the rest are hedging their positions with "24 hour sun doesn't mean anything, even if we see it, it doesn't matter".
I was curious about this too. From random web searching (Syfy.com), the sun is 200,000 times brighter than the moon in the visible light region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
It's a happy coincidence that we get to experience both total and annular solar eclipses. It wasn't always so, and it won't always be so. There was a first annular eclipse, and there will be a final total eclipse.
There’s a fascinating documentary, Behind the Curve. It talks about how, for a lot of these people, it began with the thrill of having some secret knowledge that others don’t, and then found they had a community and felt included for the first time in their lives (for some of them). That sense of community is really important to humans, so now, just like religion, there is more binding people to the movement than just the hidden knowledge.
(If I’m remembering correctly. I may be conflating it, it’s been a while since I watched it.)
A lot of conspiracy theories seem to hinge on the idea that anyone engaging in the theory somehow has access to information that most people don't, at least that's my theory.
That actually makes sense and explains best. Extremely sad, but that's probably it. Besides those that just love to troll.
Never thought about reason tbh, i was so baffled at the sheer stupidity of it all to see the "good".
Flerfs can't understand scale, they can't understand 3d space, they can't understand distances, they can't understand pretty much anything. The world is scary for them, they deserve our pity AND scorn. If only they paid attention in school
Flerfs can't understand scale, they can't understand 3d space, they can't understand distances, they can't understand pretty much anything. The world is scary for them, they deserve our pity AND scorn. If only they paid attention in school
They certainly deserve our pity. They’re lonely people who were never great in school and now get to think they’re smarter than others AND have found a community that accepts them.
Unfortunately the very pressures that made them susceptible to the flat earth movement and other conspiracies are the same pressures that keep them from accepting that they’re wrong. “Scorn” probably isn’t a useful tool, even if it feels like the right one (and they absolutely deserve it).
The Socratic method would be far more effective. Continue to ask them questions, accepting as a given that they’re intelligent people and treating them as such. Innocently interrogate them, with genuine interest, about the things they are saying until they reason themselves out of their positions.
But this will only work if they’re someone you know, most likely. Otherwise they’re likely to shun you the first time they come across a question that truly shakes their position.
You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into. "They're hiding the true shape of the ball, because they don't like god" isn't a reasonable argument. And yet for a lot of Flat Earthers, that's exactly the reason why a lot of them believe the earth is flat "cuz muh bibble sez so".
Believe you me, I have tried the socratic method, but they're much more comfortable with the lies from Eric Dubay's monotonous drone zone, Flatzoid's Perspective's selective editing, Nathan Oakley's daily shouting hour than any real facts. We live in a post fact world, it's all "a matter of opinion" to these flat earth weirdos.
Fun fact as a game dev I had to write this code a couple of times where I project the 3d stuff into 2d like that so when you tap with your finger or click I can do proper distance checks in 2d (what's closest to the finger?), even though it feels and acts 3d.
If you're so good at maths, can you tell me how a cord devide the radius? Or something to that extent. I know the chord's lenght, and the minor segment's height. Now to modell this I probly need a cylinder and cut the major segment off, but to get the right size I need the r. Don't I? Am I going insane?
Human FoV is about 210° with both eyes. Thus Θ is 105°.
The radius of the sun is 695,508 km.
Thus, d is 695,508/sin(105) → 720,043 km
720,043 - 695,508 = 24535 km away from the surface of the sun.
However, because the FoV is greater than 180°, this is actually below the surface of the sun, and any distance below the surface is enough to fill your vision.
To completely fill your field of view with the Sun, you'll need to take a Parker Bath and dip into the sun.