Flat Earther's Guide to Self Deprogramming at Home: PT2
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioWelcome to Part Two of, FLAT EARTHER'S GUIDE TO SELF DEPROGRAMMING AT HOME: Debunking the Flat Earth Model by making eyeball-only observations, from ground level, at home!
As stated in Part One, we assume the reader is living in North America.
And in Part One, we showed that, from home, with only your eyes, you can;
The above observations of the stars mean that, even if the Earth is flat, the dome of the sky DOES have a pole, and an equator... and rotates once per day.
The observations of the Sun show that, even though the Sun is not fixed to the dome of the sky... it still knows where Due East & West are, knows where the Celestial Equator is, and does move in the same direction as the dome rotates.
Also, the sun's strange movements are cyclical, with the cycle taking one year to complete.
The Flat Earth Model can't explain why the Sun behaves as it does... obeying some of the rules of the rotating dome... but also wandering North, and South, and changing it's angle from far lower than the Celestial Equator... to far higher than it... over the span of twelve long months.
It seems to like doing it's own thing but... it's movements are still extremely predictable!
We know that it's path will line up exactly with the Celestial Equator twice a year, exactly six months apart... and we know the exact dates; March 20th, and September 23rd!
We also know the dates for when it's path be the longest & highest... and the shortest & lowest. They are also six months apart... and they are exactly halfway between the dates where it aligns with the Celestial Equator!.. June 21st, and December 21st.
The Flat Earth Model has no explanation for why the sun's cycle... wild as it may be... is also perfectly divided into four acts all the exact same lenth!...
Or why two of those acts have it lining up exactly with the compass points and Celestial Equaor which are defined by Polaris!
--<>--
However, there is one Spherical Earth Model that can reconcile the yearly motions of the Sun, with the 24 hour rotation of the star dome...
The model in which Earth is a sphere... rotating once every 24 hours... that is also orbiting around the Sun, on the plane of the Sun's equator, once per year... but happens to be tilted so that it's axis of spin is not perpendicular to the plane of the Sun's equator.
In this model, the Earth, like all spinning spheres, obeys the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum... which means that it's axis will tend to maintain a fixed orientation with respect to the background stars, no matter where it moves through space.
This means that if the Earth's north pole of spin is pointing at Polaris... it will tend to STAY pointing at Polaris... no matter where it is, in it's yearly journey around the Sun.
And THAT leads to a situation where the Earth's Northern Hemisphere is pointing more TOWARD the Sun, for half it's orbit... and pointing more AWAY from the Sun for the other half.
And in such a model... we would EXPECT to see... all the observations listed above in the bullet list at the top of the page!
--<>--
In that model, Polaris simply corresponds to Earth's North Pole. And the Celestial Equator simply corresponds to the Earth's Equator.
Thus, the Sun would appear to follow the path of the Celestial Equator... on March 20th, and September 23rd... because on those days it was actually directly over the Earth's REAL equator!
Such a thing would happen twice in a yearly orbit, exactly six months apart, when... for a day... the Northern Hemisphere was pointing neither toward, nor away from the Sun!
It's quite a damn good model!.. but if you need more corroborating evidence before you'll buy it... then we need to move on to step three.
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STEP THREE: THE MOON
Like the stars and the Sun, the Moon also rises in the East, and sets in the West once per day.
But the Moon does something quite weird, that the stars and the Sun do not do. It goes through PHASES!
From a full, circular disk... to a perfect half circle... to a crescent, and all the steps in between. The Moon might look the same to you tonight as it did last night... but the next night... not so much!.. and the next week?... not at all!
Now, in the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon almost NEVER rides so high overhead that you can't tell right from left.
Most of the time, you'll be able to easily distinguish between the right and left halves of the Moon's disk... which is important, because it will go through both right hand phases, and left hand phases, over the course of a month.... and you're going to be taking note of it!
The rule of thumb is: Last Left.
The Moon starts as a very thin, right-handed crescent, which then expands toward the center over several days until it's a right-handed half circle. This half circle, or half moon, is called, "First Quarter," but the, quarter part is confusing and stupid, and we're going to call it what it is, "First Half."
From, First Half, the Moon continues expanding into more like a circle... a shape they call a Gibbous... and if the Gibbous is right handed... meaning the right half and more... it's said to be, Waxing.
It waxes until it's a FULL MOON, and then, the right half begins to disappear.
A few days after the Full Moon, you have a left-handed Gibbous... said to be Waning, or shrinking.
And then you get another perfect half moon again... only it's the left half.
They call this, Last Quarter... but again, we'll call it Last Half.
That's where the rule comes from... Last Left!
If it's a left handed Gibbous, Half, or Crescent... it is in the LAST part of the cycle, and is getting ready to disappear entirely!
The New Moon, is the opposite of the Full Moon, and it is 100% invisible!
Then the cycle starts over with a thin, right handed crescent!
--<>--
You are probably furious with me right now, for wasting your time to explain the obvious and asking, What the hell does this have to do with the Spherical Earth Model?
But Moon Phase terms, and a rule of thumb for distinguishing right from left... first from last... are critical for what we're about to get into.
Your first, at home, eyeball observation of the Moon, is going to be... that the Full Moon ALWAYS rises at Sunset!
Not just this, but... the Full Moon also ONLY rises at Sunset!
You will NEVER see a Full Moon high up in the blue sky of day!
And I can hear you now, I've seen the moon in broad daylight a million times!
That may be true... but you never saw the FULL... moon, in broad daylight!
So, what? Fuck You! Why would it matter?
--<>--
Because, THE MOON'S PHASE IS DIRECTLY TIED TO IT'S RISE & SET TIMES!
And to put that another way, THE MOON'S RISE & SET TIMES ARE DIRECTLY TIED TO IT'S PHASE!
The Full Moon, always and only rises at Sunset... and it always and only sets at Sunrise!
You can spend the rest of your life trying to prove me wrong, but it's a fact so basic, so global, and so obvious, that NOBODY can dispute it!
And before we even get into the other phases, I'm just gonna blow your mind by jumping to the opposite fact that must follow logically from this!
The NEW MOON, always & only rises at SUNRISE!
And the New Moon always & only sets, at sunset!
This is another lesson in object permanence, because the NEW MOON is OUT IN THE SKY, for the ENTIRE DAY!
It's right there, all day!... but you can't see it!
--<>--
Now... you might want to fight me on that, because... if the New Moon is invisible anyway, because that's it's phase... then how do I know it's not out at night?
And my answer would be two words... Solar Eclipse!
While it's unlikely that you'll ever see a TOTAL solar eclipse from your town in North America... you'll probably witness several PARTIAL solar eclipses over your life!
And when you do... it WILL be, on the day of a New Moon!
A solar eclipse can only happen, when a New Moon, drifts in front of the Sun, blocking some, or all of it's light!
So it's there!... and solar eclipses also prove that the Moon... is CLOSER to us, than the Sun.
--<>--
A LUNAR ECLIPSE, on the other hand, can only happen during a Full Moon!
And we've already established that the Full moon rises at sunset, and sets and sunrise, so the Full Moon is NEVER out in the daytime.
Therefore, a lunar eclipse only happens at night!
But what is eclipsing the Full Moon???
THE SHADOW OF THE EARTH!
--<>--
Right here, I could just close up my briefcase and walk out, because in the Flat Earth Model, the Earth should NOT be able to cast a SHADOW on the MOON!.. much less, a ROUND shadow!
But lunar eclipses happen... and they only happen during the Full Moon... and if it's not the Earth's own shadow blotting out the Moon? Then what is it?
Think about that as we look more closely at the moon phases and how the Moon's phase is tied to it's rise & set times... and how the Moon's rise & set times are tied to it's phases.
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The Full Moon only rises at Sunset, as you can observe from your own yard, but... the next night it will rise a bit later.
Every night AFTER a Full Moon, will see the Moon rising later and later after Sunset. And as it does so... it will become a Waning Gibbous.
In other words, it will begin to LOSE the RIGHT half of it's disk, becoming more and more of a left-handed Gibbous... until it's finally a perfect half-circle!
That left-handed half-circle... or half moon, is Last Half. And the Last Half Moon only rises at MIDNIGHT!
--<>--
SIDEBAR: For our purposes here, the term, "midnight," does not mean, "12:00AM." Rather it means... the midpoint between Sunset, and Sunrise!
Likewise, the term, "midday," does not mean, "12:00PM" but... the midpoint between Sunrise and Sunset.
The length of the days and nights change year round, and we also have time zones and Daylight Saving Time to complicate things, so midnight is rarely ever 12:00AM, and midday is rarely ever 12:00PM.
--<>--
At any rate, the Last Half Moon only rises at Midnight!... and it sets at Midday!
So you WILL see a Last Half Moon out there in broad daylight... in the first half of the day!
But as the Moon continues to wane... from Last Half... into a left-handed crescent, it will continue to rise later an later after midnight... and set, later and later after midday!
Eventually, the thinnest possible left-handed Cresent Moon... will rise just a little before the Sun rises... and set, just a little before the Sun sets.
And the next day, it's a New Moon, rising and setting with the Sun.
--<>--
The first thin, right-handed Cresecnt Moon will rise a bit AFTER sunrise... and will set a bit AFTER sunset.
And as that right-handed crescent grows thicker and thicker... it will rise later and later in the morning... and set later and later in the evening.
Until finally... that right-handed Moon, will be a perfect right-handed half-circle. First Half Moon!
And just as Last Half Moon only rises at midnight... First Half Moon only rises at midday!
Again, it might not be exactly noon, depending on the season, time zone, and Daylight Saving Time... but the First Half Moon will ONLY Rise at midday... and sets at midnight!
From there, the Moon becomes a Waxing Gibbous... rising later and later in the afternoon... and setting later and later after midnight.
Finally, we're back around to the Full Moon... which only rises at Sunset, and sets at Sunrise.
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The implications of this, even if you ignore solar and lunar eclipses, are fairly VAST!
Why should the Moon be going through phases at all?.. and if it does want to do this strange thing, then why are it's PHASES so INEXTRICABLY LOCKED to the rising and setting of the Sun?
The robotic answer you always here is that the Sun is just somehow lighting up certain parts of the moon at different times.
And that makes some sense when it's the Full Moon, rising just as the Sun is setting, right? It's easy to imagine that the Sun, which has just gone down, is fully lighting up the Moon which has just come up!
But how the HELL does that make any sense, when there is a Half-Moon, or a Gibbous Moon, or a Crescent Moon... out there in the blue sky of broad daylight, along with the Sun???
And for that matter... why the HELL would there ever be a Half, Gibbous, or Crescent moon in the dark of NIGHT?
--<>--
Well, our first clue, is that the handedness of the Moon phase... DOES, always face the Sun, when the two are seen together in the sky!
Let's go back to our Last Half Moon... the left-handed side of the Moon's disk!..
It rises at midnight, but does not set until midday...
This means that at Sunrise... it's just at it's highest point in the sky for the day... while the Sun is just... over there in the East rising.
The lit, left-handed portion of the Last Half Moon... is FACING that Sun, in the East.
--<>--
Let's flip it around and consider the right-handed, First Half Moon. That's the half-moon that only RISES at MIDDAY!..
By the time our right-handed, First Half Moon is coming up... the Sun is high in the sky!
AGAIN... the lit half of our moon is FACING the Sun!
An this follows for all the Gibbous, and Crescent phases of the Moon... whether left-handed, or right-handed... if they appear in the sky, as they will, during the day... the lit side always faces the Sun!
--<>--
That makes a LOT more sense!.. but it STILL doesn't explain why... it isn't always just a Half Moon!
Why is it sometimes a Gibbous, or a Crescent? If they're in the sky at the same time... and it's not always a Full Moon... then it should just be a Half Moon... either right or left, depending on what side of the Sun it's on!
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The Flat Earth Model has no answer to this!
Again, as with everything else in this two part article, theses are eyeball observations you can make from home. And the whole appeal of the Flat Earth Model is that... according to my eyeballs... the Earth is FLAT!
But the fact that Moon would have phases at all... is not explained.
The fact that the phases are tied to the Moon's rise and set times, and the rise and set times of the sun... and that the handedness of the phases always favors the sun... is not explained.
The very fact that the Moon can be in the sky at the same time as the Sun... but ONLY if it's not FULL... is not explained.
Solar and Lunar eclipses?... also not explained.
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However... if the Earth is sphere... spinning at the speed of one rotation every 24 hours... AND, if the Moon is orbiting AROUND the Earth, at the speed of one full orbit every, "lunation," or phase cycle... then things start to make sense!
The FIRST, most important implication is that, in this model, the Earth would be spinning UNDER the Moon, once per day... as that Moon slowly did it's month long orbit.
So... the rising and setting of the Moon each day is NOT THE SAME as it orbiting around the Earth!
The full phase cycle... from Full Moon, to New Moon, and back... takes a MONTH.
But we still see the Moon rising and setting every 24 hours, because we're spinning BENEATH it!.. and as we do so... we're catching another daily GLIMPSE at where's it's at, in it's orbit around us!
Does that make sense?
--<>--
In this model, the Moon, which is orbiting Earth, appears FULL... only when it's on the opposite side of the planet from the Sun!
That's when it's catching the full sunlight, from our perspective down below.
But as the Moon continues around that orbit, it gets to be on the SAME side of the Earth, as the Sun... so that not only is it in silhouette... but it's also rising and setting WITH the Sun... because they're conjunct!
From this, you can parse out that a Half Moon is neither on the opposite side of the planet from the sun... or same side of the planet as the sun... but exactly half-way between those points in it's monthly orbit!
And whether it's a right-handed, or left-handed Half Moon, depends on which of those two half way points it's at!
This is why one appears to rise at Midday, and the other appears to rise at Midnight... with the lit half facing the sun, in either case!
And from there, all the other right & left handed Gibbous & Crescent phases fall right into place!
--<>--
The Sun & Moon BOTH only APPEAR to rise and set every single day, because the Earth is spinning BENEATH them... at the speed of one rotation per 24 hours.
So, when we SEE the Sun and Moon both go over... we are simply catching a daily GLIMPSE at the angles they're making to one another... as the Moon goes from opposite side, over to same side, and back!
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At this point, you might still be thinking, Hey!... in step two, you went on a long rant about how the spinning Earth was TILTED, and why that made the Sun ride higher in the summer, and lower in the winter! Where did all THAT go, now that you're ranting about the Moon?
Well, that's a good question!
It brings us to our final back-yard, eyball observation that you can make about the Moon's movements.
In the summer, when the Sun is riding it's highest arc over the sky... the Moon will be riding it's lowest arc... off to the South.
In the winter, when the Sun is riding it's lowest arc, off to the South... the Moon will be riding it's highest arc... close to the Zenith.
Over the course of the year, the paths that the Sun and Moon take, over the sky... trade places!
This is another observable fact that cannot be explained by a Flat Earth Model.
However, in our established spinning, spherical Earth model, the same axial tilt that explains why the Sun wanders as it does, and the seasons happen... also explains why the Sun and Moon would trade places like this...
IF the Moon orbits the Earth on the plane of the SUN's equator!
--<>--
I'll state that again... IF the Moon orbit's around the Earth, not on the plane of the Earth's equator, but INSTEAD on the plane of the SUN's equator...
Yes, you would see the Sun and Moon trade places as described above, over the course of the year... because of the Earth's axial tilt!
--<>--
Normally you WOULD expect, a moon to orbit a planet around the plane of the PLANET'S equator... even if that planet's axis were tilted with respect to the plane of the Sun's equator.
So it IS ODD... that in this model, the Moon has to be orbiting the Earth... BUT... not on the plane of the Earth's equator... but rather that of the Sun!
From here, I could try to say that the Moon is rather large, compared to the Earth, but... that's not an observation you can eyeball from the back yard and so... must be left out of this analysis!
--<>--
All I CAN say, at the end of this... is there there IS a model that can reconcile ALL the eyeball observations a person can make with their eyes, in their yard... of the motions of the stars, Sun, and Moon... including Moon Phases.
And that model is NOT the Flat Earth Model.
The model that DOES explain all these observations is... the model of a spherical Earth, that is spinning at the speed of one rotation per 24 hours.
This spinning Earth is orbiting around the Sun... on the plane of the Sun's equator, at the speed of one orbit per year.
The axis of this spinning earth is tilted, with respect to the plane of the Sun's Equator.
But thanks to the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum... that Axis maintains it's orientation with respect to the background stars, no matter where it travels around the Sun, in it's orbit... meaning that at some points it's tilting AWAY from the sun, and at other points it's tilting TOWARD the sun.
This Moon orbits around the Earth, at the speed of one orbit per month... but it does not orbit on the plane of the Earth's equator, but instead, on the plane of the Sun's equator.
All of this... if true... WOULD give rise, to EXACTLY the kinds of observations you can see from your back yard.
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ARTICLE IN CONCLUSION
In the strictest analysis, you may still argue that the observations I have laid out here, that any person in the Northern Hemisphere can make from home with no instruments, do NOT constitute PROOF beyond all doubt, of a spherical Earth.
This is true! While these observations themselves ARE plaily obvious facts, beyond any doubt, that anybody could verify for themselves at any time... they do not, even taken together... PROOOVE that the Earth is spherical.
However, they do call the Flat Earth Model, severely into question.
And, as I've pointed out, the Spherical Earth Model does a REMARKABLE JOB of explaining ALL these phenomena... again... observable from home.
If the ALLURE of the Flat Earth Model, is to trust your own eyes... and do your own science for yourself... then you MUST consider the OBVIOUS motions of the stars, the Sun, and the phasing Moon.
And if you do so, honestly... you will find that the Flat Earth Model can only reconcile such observations by saying that the dome of the stars is spinning... and the Sun and the Moon are... kinda doing their own unique things for unknown reasons...
Even though those unique things they do... ARE predictable... and DO line up with the rules of the spinning star dome from time to time.
--<>--
So, I leave it to you...
When you have a set of observations... made from your yard with your own eyes... and you have one model that cannot resolve them fully... except to say, it's just the way things are and we can't understand it...
And another model... that does resolve them fully, in a way we can understand...
Which model do you think, is closer to the truth?
°¦}
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As stated in Part One, we assume the reader is living in North America.
And in Part One, we showed that, from home, with only your eyes, you can;
- Locate Polaris and see that, year round, it never moves.
- See that all circumpolar stars circle Polaris in a counter-clockwise direction at the speed of one rotation per 24 hours.
- See that, ineed ALL stars are circling in this counter-clockwise direction at the speed of one rotation per 24 hours, as if they are stuck to the inside of a massive rotating dome, with Polaris as it's spindle.
- Define Due North, by drawing a mental line down from Polaris to the line of the horizon.
- Define Due East, West, and South, on your horizon, once you know Due North.
- Define The Zenith as the point directly overhead.
- Define the Celestial Equator as an arc in the southern sky, stretching from Due East to Due West, that rises above your southern horizon exactly the same number of degrees as Polaris is, away from the Zenith.
- Observe that on March 20th, the Sun rises from a point Due East, and sets at a point Due West... EXACTLY following the arc of the Celestial Equator.
- Observe that between March 20th and June 21st, the Sun's rising and setting points drift northeast and northwest... while the arc that it takes over the sky gets longer and higher, approaching the Zenith. This results in longer days and shorter nights.
- Observe that Between June 21st and September 23rd, the Sun's path moves BACK to where it was on March 20th. This results in days shortening and nights lengthening until they are both the same length.
- Observe that between September 23rd and December 21st, the Sun's rise and set points drift southeast and southwest... as the arc it takes over the sky gets shorter, and much lower than the Celestial Equator. This results in nights getting much longer than the days.
- Observe that between December 21st and March 20th, the Sun's path goes back to rising and setting Due East & West, and the whole cycle starts over.
The above observations of the stars mean that, even if the Earth is flat, the dome of the sky DOES have a pole, and an equator... and rotates once per day.
The observations of the Sun show that, even though the Sun is not fixed to the dome of the sky... it still knows where Due East & West are, knows where the Celestial Equator is, and does move in the same direction as the dome rotates.
Also, the sun's strange movements are cyclical, with the cycle taking one year to complete.
The Flat Earth Model can't explain why the Sun behaves as it does... obeying some of the rules of the rotating dome... but also wandering North, and South, and changing it's angle from far lower than the Celestial Equator... to far higher than it... over the span of twelve long months.
It seems to like doing it's own thing but... it's movements are still extremely predictable!
We know that it's path will line up exactly with the Celestial Equator twice a year, exactly six months apart... and we know the exact dates; March 20th, and September 23rd!
We also know the dates for when it's path be the longest & highest... and the shortest & lowest. They are also six months apart... and they are exactly halfway between the dates where it aligns with the Celestial Equator!.. June 21st, and December 21st.
The Flat Earth Model has no explanation for why the sun's cycle... wild as it may be... is also perfectly divided into four acts all the exact same lenth!...
Or why two of those acts have it lining up exactly with the compass points and Celestial Equaor which are defined by Polaris!
However, there is one Spherical Earth Model that can reconcile the yearly motions of the Sun, with the 24 hour rotation of the star dome...
The model in which Earth is a sphere... rotating once every 24 hours... that is also orbiting around the Sun, on the plane of the Sun's equator, once per year... but happens to be tilted so that it's axis of spin is not perpendicular to the plane of the Sun's equator.
In this model, the Earth, like all spinning spheres, obeys the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum... which means that it's axis will tend to maintain a fixed orientation with respect to the background stars, no matter where it moves through space.
This means that if the Earth's north pole of spin is pointing at Polaris... it will tend to STAY pointing at Polaris... no matter where it is, in it's yearly journey around the Sun.
And THAT leads to a situation where the Earth's Northern Hemisphere is pointing more TOWARD the Sun, for half it's orbit... and pointing more AWAY from the Sun for the other half.
And in such a model... we would EXPECT to see... all the observations listed above in the bullet list at the top of the page!
In that model, Polaris simply corresponds to Earth's North Pole. And the Celestial Equator simply corresponds to the Earth's Equator.
Thus, the Sun would appear to follow the path of the Celestial Equator... on March 20th, and September 23rd... because on those days it was actually directly over the Earth's REAL equator!
Such a thing would happen twice in a yearly orbit, exactly six months apart, when... for a day... the Northern Hemisphere was pointing neither toward, nor away from the Sun!
It's quite a damn good model!.. but if you need more corroborating evidence before you'll buy it... then we need to move on to step three.
Like the stars and the Sun, the Moon also rises in the East, and sets in the West once per day.
But the Moon does something quite weird, that the stars and the Sun do not do. It goes through PHASES!
From a full, circular disk... to a perfect half circle... to a crescent, and all the steps in between. The Moon might look the same to you tonight as it did last night... but the next night... not so much!.. and the next week?... not at all!
Now, in the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon almost NEVER rides so high overhead that you can't tell right from left.
Most of the time, you'll be able to easily distinguish between the right and left halves of the Moon's disk... which is important, because it will go through both right hand phases, and left hand phases, over the course of a month.... and you're going to be taking note of it!
The rule of thumb is: Last Left.
The Moon starts as a very thin, right-handed crescent, which then expands toward the center over several days until it's a right-handed half circle. This half circle, or half moon, is called, "First Quarter," but the, quarter part is confusing and stupid, and we're going to call it what it is, "First Half."
From, First Half, the Moon continues expanding into more like a circle... a shape they call a Gibbous... and if the Gibbous is right handed... meaning the right half and more... it's said to be, Waxing.
It waxes until it's a FULL MOON, and then, the right half begins to disappear.
A few days after the Full Moon, you have a left-handed Gibbous... said to be Waning, or shrinking.
And then you get another perfect half moon again... only it's the left half.
They call this, Last Quarter... but again, we'll call it Last Half.
That's where the rule comes from... Last Left!
If it's a left handed Gibbous, Half, or Crescent... it is in the LAST part of the cycle, and is getting ready to disappear entirely!
The New Moon, is the opposite of the Full Moon, and it is 100% invisible!
Then the cycle starts over with a thin, right handed crescent!
You are probably furious with me right now, for wasting your time to explain the obvious and asking, What the hell does this have to do with the Spherical Earth Model?
But Moon Phase terms, and a rule of thumb for distinguishing right from left... first from last... are critical for what we're about to get into.
Your first, at home, eyeball observation of the Moon, is going to be... that the Full Moon ALWAYS rises at Sunset!
Not just this, but... the Full Moon also ONLY rises at Sunset!
You will NEVER see a Full Moon high up in the blue sky of day!
And I can hear you now, I've seen the moon in broad daylight a million times!
That may be true... but you never saw the FULL... moon, in broad daylight!
So, what? Fuck You! Why would it matter?
Because, THE MOON'S PHASE IS DIRECTLY TIED TO IT'S RISE & SET TIMES!
And to put that another way, THE MOON'S RISE & SET TIMES ARE DIRECTLY TIED TO IT'S PHASE!
The Full Moon, always and only rises at Sunset... and it always and only sets at Sunrise!
You can spend the rest of your life trying to prove me wrong, but it's a fact so basic, so global, and so obvious, that NOBODY can dispute it!
And before we even get into the other phases, I'm just gonna blow your mind by jumping to the opposite fact that must follow logically from this!
The NEW MOON, always & only rises at SUNRISE!
And the New Moon always & only sets, at sunset!
This is another lesson in object permanence, because the NEW MOON is OUT IN THE SKY, for the ENTIRE DAY!
It's right there, all day!... but you can't see it!
Now... you might want to fight me on that, because... if the New Moon is invisible anyway, because that's it's phase... then how do I know it's not out at night?
And my answer would be two words... Solar Eclipse!
While it's unlikely that you'll ever see a TOTAL solar eclipse from your town in North America... you'll probably witness several PARTIAL solar eclipses over your life!
And when you do... it WILL be, on the day of a New Moon!
A solar eclipse can only happen, when a New Moon, drifts in front of the Sun, blocking some, or all of it's light!
So it's there!... and solar eclipses also prove that the Moon... is CLOSER to us, than the Sun.
A LUNAR ECLIPSE, on the other hand, can only happen during a Full Moon!
And we've already established that the Full moon rises at sunset, and sets and sunrise, so the Full Moon is NEVER out in the daytime.
Therefore, a lunar eclipse only happens at night!
But what is eclipsing the Full Moon???
THE SHADOW OF THE EARTH!
Right here, I could just close up my briefcase and walk out, because in the Flat Earth Model, the Earth should NOT be able to cast a SHADOW on the MOON!.. much less, a ROUND shadow!
But lunar eclipses happen... and they only happen during the Full Moon... and if it's not the Earth's own shadow blotting out the Moon? Then what is it?
Think about that as we look more closely at the moon phases and how the Moon's phase is tied to it's rise & set times... and how the Moon's rise & set times are tied to it's phases.
The Full Moon only rises at Sunset, as you can observe from your own yard, but... the next night it will rise a bit later.
Every night AFTER a Full Moon, will see the Moon rising later and later after Sunset. And as it does so... it will become a Waning Gibbous.
In other words, it will begin to LOSE the RIGHT half of it's disk, becoming more and more of a left-handed Gibbous... until it's finally a perfect half-circle!
That left-handed half-circle... or half moon, is Last Half. And the Last Half Moon only rises at MIDNIGHT!
SIDEBAR: For our purposes here, the term, "midnight," does not mean, "12:00AM." Rather it means... the midpoint between Sunset, and Sunrise!
Likewise, the term, "midday," does not mean, "12:00PM" but... the midpoint between Sunrise and Sunset.
The length of the days and nights change year round, and we also have time zones and Daylight Saving Time to complicate things, so midnight is rarely ever 12:00AM, and midday is rarely ever 12:00PM.
At any rate, the Last Half Moon only rises at Midnight!... and it sets at Midday!
So you WILL see a Last Half Moon out there in broad daylight... in the first half of the day!
But as the Moon continues to wane... from Last Half... into a left-handed crescent, it will continue to rise later an later after midnight... and set, later and later after midday!
Eventually, the thinnest possible left-handed Cresent Moon... will rise just a little before the Sun rises... and set, just a little before the Sun sets.
And the next day, it's a New Moon, rising and setting with the Sun.
The first thin, right-handed Cresecnt Moon will rise a bit AFTER sunrise... and will set a bit AFTER sunset.
And as that right-handed crescent grows thicker and thicker... it will rise later and later in the morning... and set later and later in the evening.
Until finally... that right-handed Moon, will be a perfect right-handed half-circle. First Half Moon!
And just as Last Half Moon only rises at midnight... First Half Moon only rises at midday!
Again, it might not be exactly noon, depending on the season, time zone, and Daylight Saving Time... but the First Half Moon will ONLY Rise at midday... and sets at midnight!
From there, the Moon becomes a Waxing Gibbous... rising later and later in the afternoon... and setting later and later after midnight.
Finally, we're back around to the Full Moon... which only rises at Sunset, and sets at Sunrise.
The implications of this, even if you ignore solar and lunar eclipses, are fairly VAST!
Why should the Moon be going through phases at all?.. and if it does want to do this strange thing, then why are it's PHASES so INEXTRICABLY LOCKED to the rising and setting of the Sun?
The robotic answer you always here is that the Sun is just somehow lighting up certain parts of the moon at different times.
And that makes some sense when it's the Full Moon, rising just as the Sun is setting, right? It's easy to imagine that the Sun, which has just gone down, is fully lighting up the Moon which has just come up!
But how the HELL does that make any sense, when there is a Half-Moon, or a Gibbous Moon, or a Crescent Moon... out there in the blue sky of broad daylight, along with the Sun???
And for that matter... why the HELL would there ever be a Half, Gibbous, or Crescent moon in the dark of NIGHT?
Well, our first clue, is that the handedness of the Moon phase... DOES, always face the Sun, when the two are seen together in the sky!
Let's go back to our Last Half Moon... the left-handed side of the Moon's disk!..
It rises at midnight, but does not set until midday...
This means that at Sunrise... it's just at it's highest point in the sky for the day... while the Sun is just... over there in the East rising.
The lit, left-handed portion of the Last Half Moon... is FACING that Sun, in the East.
Let's flip it around and consider the right-handed, First Half Moon. That's the half-moon that only RISES at MIDDAY!..
By the time our right-handed, First Half Moon is coming up... the Sun is high in the sky!
AGAIN... the lit half of our moon is FACING the Sun!
An this follows for all the Gibbous, and Crescent phases of the Moon... whether left-handed, or right-handed... if they appear in the sky, as they will, during the day... the lit side always faces the Sun!
That makes a LOT more sense!.. but it STILL doesn't explain why... it isn't always just a Half Moon!
Why is it sometimes a Gibbous, or a Crescent? If they're in the sky at the same time... and it's not always a Full Moon... then it should just be a Half Moon... either right or left, depending on what side of the Sun it's on!
The Flat Earth Model has no answer to this!
Again, as with everything else in this two part article, theses are eyeball observations you can make from home. And the whole appeal of the Flat Earth Model is that... according to my eyeballs... the Earth is FLAT!
But the fact that Moon would have phases at all... is not explained.
The fact that the phases are tied to the Moon's rise and set times, and the rise and set times of the sun... and that the handedness of the phases always favors the sun... is not explained.
The very fact that the Moon can be in the sky at the same time as the Sun... but ONLY if it's not FULL... is not explained.
Solar and Lunar eclipses?... also not explained.
However... if the Earth is sphere... spinning at the speed of one rotation every 24 hours... AND, if the Moon is orbiting AROUND the Earth, at the speed of one full orbit every, "lunation," or phase cycle... then things start to make sense!
The FIRST, most important implication is that, in this model, the Earth would be spinning UNDER the Moon, once per day... as that Moon slowly did it's month long orbit.
So... the rising and setting of the Moon each day is NOT THE SAME as it orbiting around the Earth!
The full phase cycle... from Full Moon, to New Moon, and back... takes a MONTH.
But we still see the Moon rising and setting every 24 hours, because we're spinning BENEATH it!.. and as we do so... we're catching another daily GLIMPSE at where's it's at, in it's orbit around us!
Does that make sense?
In this model, the Moon, which is orbiting Earth, appears FULL... only when it's on the opposite side of the planet from the Sun!
That's when it's catching the full sunlight, from our perspective down below.
But as the Moon continues around that orbit, it gets to be on the SAME side of the Earth, as the Sun... so that not only is it in silhouette... but it's also rising and setting WITH the Sun... because they're conjunct!
From this, you can parse out that a Half Moon is neither on the opposite side of the planet from the sun... or same side of the planet as the sun... but exactly half-way between those points in it's monthly orbit!
And whether it's a right-handed, or left-handed Half Moon, depends on which of those two half way points it's at!
This is why one appears to rise at Midday, and the other appears to rise at Midnight... with the lit half facing the sun, in either case!
And from there, all the other right & left handed Gibbous & Crescent phases fall right into place!
The Sun & Moon BOTH only APPEAR to rise and set every single day, because the Earth is spinning BENEATH them... at the speed of one rotation per 24 hours.
So, when we SEE the Sun and Moon both go over... we are simply catching a daily GLIMPSE at the angles they're making to one another... as the Moon goes from opposite side, over to same side, and back!
At this point, you might still be thinking, Hey!... in step two, you went on a long rant about how the spinning Earth was TILTED, and why that made the Sun ride higher in the summer, and lower in the winter! Where did all THAT go, now that you're ranting about the Moon?
Well, that's a good question!
It brings us to our final back-yard, eyball observation that you can make about the Moon's movements.
In the summer, when the Sun is riding it's highest arc over the sky... the Moon will be riding it's lowest arc... off to the South.
In the winter, when the Sun is riding it's lowest arc, off to the South... the Moon will be riding it's highest arc... close to the Zenith.
Over the course of the year, the paths that the Sun and Moon take, over the sky... trade places!
This is another observable fact that cannot be explained by a Flat Earth Model.
However, in our established spinning, spherical Earth model, the same axial tilt that explains why the Sun wanders as it does, and the seasons happen... also explains why the Sun and Moon would trade places like this...
IF the Moon orbits the Earth on the plane of the SUN's equator!
I'll state that again... IF the Moon orbit's around the Earth, not on the plane of the Earth's equator, but INSTEAD on the plane of the SUN's equator...
Yes, you would see the Sun and Moon trade places as described above, over the course of the year... because of the Earth's axial tilt!
Normally you WOULD expect, a moon to orbit a planet around the plane of the PLANET'S equator... even if that planet's axis were tilted with respect to the plane of the Sun's equator.
So it IS ODD... that in this model, the Moon has to be orbiting the Earth... BUT... not on the plane of the Earth's equator... but rather that of the Sun!
From here, I could try to say that the Moon is rather large, compared to the Earth, but... that's not an observation you can eyeball from the back yard and so... must be left out of this analysis!
All I CAN say, at the end of this... is there there IS a model that can reconcile ALL the eyeball observations a person can make with their eyes, in their yard... of the motions of the stars, Sun, and Moon... including Moon Phases.
And that model is NOT the Flat Earth Model.
The model that DOES explain all these observations is... the model of a spherical Earth, that is spinning at the speed of one rotation per 24 hours.
This spinning Earth is orbiting around the Sun... on the plane of the Sun's equator, at the speed of one orbit per year.
The axis of this spinning earth is tilted, with respect to the plane of the Sun's Equator.
But thanks to the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum... that Axis maintains it's orientation with respect to the background stars, no matter where it travels around the Sun, in it's orbit... meaning that at some points it's tilting AWAY from the sun, and at other points it's tilting TOWARD the sun.
This Moon orbits around the Earth, at the speed of one orbit per month... but it does not orbit on the plane of the Earth's equator, but instead, on the plane of the Sun's equator.
All of this... if true... WOULD give rise, to EXACTLY the kinds of observations you can see from your back yard.
In the strictest analysis, you may still argue that the observations I have laid out here, that any person in the Northern Hemisphere can make from home with no instruments, do NOT constitute PROOF beyond all doubt, of a spherical Earth.
This is true! While these observations themselves ARE plaily obvious facts, beyond any doubt, that anybody could verify for themselves at any time... they do not, even taken together... PROOOVE that the Earth is spherical.
However, they do call the Flat Earth Model, severely into question.
And, as I've pointed out, the Spherical Earth Model does a REMARKABLE JOB of explaining ALL these phenomena... again... observable from home.
If the ALLURE of the Flat Earth Model, is to trust your own eyes... and do your own science for yourself... then you MUST consider the OBVIOUS motions of the stars, the Sun, and the phasing Moon.
And if you do so, honestly... you will find that the Flat Earth Model can only reconcile such observations by saying that the dome of the stars is spinning... and the Sun and the Moon are... kinda doing their own unique things for unknown reasons...
Even though those unique things they do... ARE predictable... and DO line up with the rules of the spinning star dome from time to time.
So, I leave it to you...
When you have a set of observations... made from your yard with your own eyes... and you have one model that cannot resolve them fully... except to say, it's just the way things are and we can't understand it...
And another model... that does resolve them fully, in a way we can understand...
Which model do you think, is closer to the truth?
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