The earth is shaped like an ellipse or geoid. What is the Earth: round or flat. All evidence

There is probably no person on our beautiful planet who at least once in his life did not ask himself the question: "What is the shape of the Earth?"

This question has worried many scientific minds throughout the history of mankind. Studying the history of our planet, we come to the conclusion that the idea of ​​the shape of the Earth developed in different peoples in different ways. But now it is very difficult to determine in which people this idea was the most correct. There are very, very few reliable ancient documents studying this moment. For the most part, these are legends, traditions, myths.

The most common tradition is the representation of the ancient Indians. They imagined the Earth as flat, lying on the backs of elephants.

Valuable written documents of the inhabitants of ancient Babylonia, whose age is more than 6 thousand years, have been preserved. As you know, the Babylonians inherited their culture from other peoples, more ancient. These peoples saw the Earth as a mountain. On one of the slopes of which, or rather on the western, is Babylonia. They knew for sure that there was a sea to the south of Babylonia, and mountains to the east. The ancient peoples were afraid to cross these majestic mountains, so it seemed to them that Babylonia was located on the western slope of the "peace" mountain. Around the mountain is the sea, and the sky (solid in nature) rests on the sea - the heavenly world. The heavenly world had the shape of an overturned bowl. And it also has its own land, air and water. The heavenly land is the constellations of the Zodiac. There are twelve in total. The Sun, which happens in each of the constellations for about a month, the Moon and five more planets move along the celestial land. Hell is located under the Earth - an abyss, the souls of dead people, animals, birds descend there. When it is night in Babylonia, the Sun is in the underground, descends there in the west, and begins its journey from the eastern edge. The ancient Babylonians formed their ideas about the Earth on the basis of observations of nature. But they couldn't explain it properly.

The ancient Jews, who lived on the plain, represented the Earth as a plain, on which there are mountains. These ideas evolved from the fact that the Jews lived in a flat area. They divided the sky into upper and lower zones. Heavenly waters (snow, rain, hail) lived in the upper zone of the sky, and winds lived in the lower zone. Under the Earth were waters that fed rivers and lakes.

However, the Greeks made the greatest contribution to the development of ideas about the shape of the Earth. In the view of Homer, the Earth is a convex disk, reminiscent of a warrior's shield. The land is washed by the Ocean River. Above the Earth is a copper vault along which the Sun moves. The sun rises every day from the ocean in the east and sinks into the waters in the west. These representations are very well described in Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey".

The universe is a liquid mass, inside there is a huge bubble, which has the shape of a hemisphere. The concave surface is the vault of heaven, and the lower one is the ocean, on the surface of which the Earth floats in the form of a cork. This is how the philosopher Thales (VI century BC) imagined the structure of the world.

According to Anaximander Meletsky, the Earth is a segment of a column, on one of the bases of which life is located.

Making long journeys, people gradually came to the conclusion that the Earth is convex. The bulge of the Earth was confirmed by observations of receding ships. Gradually, people came to the conclusion that the Earth is spherical.

Pythagoras (r. ca. 580 - d. 500 BC) and his followers were perhaps the first to consider the Earth and other planets to be spherical.

Aristotle (IV century BC), observing lunar eclipses, noticed that the shadow from the Earth falling on the surface of the Moon is always round. He also noted that it is the ball that casts a round shadow.

Aristarchus of Samos, who lived at the end of the 4th - the first half of the 3rd century BC, suggested that the Earth and all the planets revolve around the Sun, contrary to the prevailing opinion that the luminary and all the planets move around the Earth. However, he was unable to support his assumption with facts. And so, it took about 1700 more years before the Polish scientist Copernicus managed to prove this assumption.

If our planet were in equilibrium, established under the influence of gravity, had no rotation around its own axis and consisted of a homogeneous substance. Then one could say that our planet has a spherical shape. But the earth is spinning. There is a centrifugal force, under its influence, polar compression appears. The earth takes the form of a spheroid, more precisely an ellipsoid of revolution.

Studying the law of universal gravitation, at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, I. Newton theoretically substantiated the compression of the Earth. Then this was proved practically by the difference in the swing of the pendulum at different latitudes.

Numerous geodetic measurements were carried out, various values ​​for the dimensions of the earth's shape were proposed. In Soviet times, since 1946, the ellipsoid of F. N. Krasovsky was adopted, the dimensions of which are: the equatorial radius is 6378245 m, the polar radius is 6356863 m, the polar compression is 1:298.3. The difference between the equatorial and polar radii of the Earth is only 21382 meters. If you look closely at these dimensions, it becomes clear why in geography the shape of the Earth is considered spherical.

However, back to our reasoning. The substance of which the Earth consists is heterogeneous, the mass is distributed unevenly. This means that the figure of the Earth will deviate from the correct shape of a spheroid, in addition, one should not forget about the action of the gravitational field of the Galaxy. A new designation for the shape of the Earth appears - the geoid.

The term "geoid" in relation to the designation of the figure of the Earth was proposed in 1873 by the German mathematician Johann Benedikt Listing. This geometric figure more accurately reflected the shape of the Earth than an ellipsoid.

Geoid - a figure that coincides with the average surface of the oceans (this is a level surface). At each point of this figure, the direction of gravity is perpendicular to its surface. Due to the fact that the earth's crust is heterogeneous, the geoid has ups and downs. Relative to the ellipsoid, the Krasovsky uplift does not exceed 136 meters, and the subsidence is 162 meters. The uplifts are located above the oceanic depressions, the subsidences are equal to the continents. The heavy oceanic basaltic crust deflects gravity towards the oceans from the lighter continental granite crust. The ups and downs of the geoid are mirrored in relation to the actual relief of the Earth.

When studying the movement of artificial satellites of the Earth, the polar asymmetry of the earth's ellipsoid was established. Thanks to this, new ideas about the shape of the Earth appeared. The earth has a heart-shaped shape, its north pole is raised, compared to the south pole, by about 30 meters. This shape of the Earth is called a cardioid. And again the reason is the influence of the gravitational field of the Galaxy.

Thus, the physical surface of the solid Earth deviates from the surface of the ellipsoid. The maximum height of the physical surface above the ellipsoid is 8848 meters (Chomolungma), the maximum depth is 11022 meters (Marian Trench).

So what is the shape of the Earth? The figure of the Earth completely depends on the distribution of masses and densities in its body; this figure does not have an exact mathematical expression. It is impossible to accurately determine it, which is why the name quasigeoid is used in geodetic measurements in Russia and some other countries. This is an approximation to the geoid. The quasi-geoid is determined by the results of measurements, it coincides with the geoid in the territory of the World Ocean. On land, it approaches the shape of a geoid. Deviations range from a few centimeters in the plains to two meters in the mountains.

In June 2010, the European Space Agency showed the first detailed geological maps of our planet, and for the first time the world saw what the shape of the Earth really is. All this was made possible thanks to the GOCE research satellite, which was launched into orbit in 2009.

The concept of the geoid was introduced in 1873 by the German mathematician Johann Listing in order to characterize the shape of the Earth, because it is not spherical, but flattened at the poles. For the imaginary surface of the geoid, the level of the ocean was taken in a “state of rest” and hypothetically continued under the surface of the continents, as a result, scientists received an ideal figure - an ellipsoid. This rather hypothetical figure is still used in geodesy.

However, in recent times it has become clear that the Earth's gravitational field is not uniform. At first, some deviations from the ellipsoid were considered local, but with the development of satellite navigation and global positioning (GPS) systems, it became clear that “local” anomalies are of a planetary nature! For example, GPS devices on board an aircraft or ship show altitude fluctuations during movement, although it is really unchanged. This is caused by the fact that the hypothetical surface of an ellipsoid with the center of mass of the Earth was included in the program of the navigation satellite as a reference point, and the strengthening or weakening of the force of gravity that exists in reality leads to a deviation in the readings of GPS devices. Moreover, according to different intensity of gravity, objects, freely falling, deviate from the classical line perpendicular to the ellipsoid, however, move along a perpendicular trajectory exactly to the surface of the geoid.

GOCE in its instrumentation contains an ultra-precise gradiometer with three pairs of platinum accelerometers that are capable of detecting the slightest fluctuations, up to one ten-trillionth of a gal (1 gal = 1 m / s2 - a measure of acceleration), in the Earth's gravitational field. To map changes in gravity, the satellite rotates in an extremely low orbit - just 254.9 km, passing through dangerous polar regions. At such an altitude, the frictional force of the rarefied atmosphere slows down the movement of GOCE, therefore, in order to maintain speed and not go out of orbit, the satellite has an acceleration system - which from time to time shoots a jet of compressed xenon inert gas.

As it turned out, thanks to the work of GOCE, the geoid not only does not have that ideal ellipsoid shape, but generally looks like an “apple withered and shriveled during the winter” with its protrusions and depressions ... showed that the Earth's gravitational field has three huge areas with an increased force of attraction: North America, India and the Himalayas, as well as the South Pacific with Antarctica. The highest level of gravity is established in the northern part of the Indian Ocean and on the Hindustan Peninsula, where the level of the ocean surface is more than 100 m below the plane of the ellipsoid! At the same time, there are three areas with weak gravity - the North Atlantic with Europe, Oceania with Australia and the South Indian Ocean. The lowest level of terrestrial gravity exists over Iceland and Papua New Guinea - the level of ocean waters here rises about 80 m above the plane of the surface of the ellipsoid.

The results obtained by the probe still need to be worked out, but it is already becoming clear that the inhomogeneity of the Earth's gravitational field plays almost a key role in the circulation of ocean currents, both horizontal and vertical. Scientists also hope to improve existing models of future climate change, as they now have an accurate tool for predicting polar ice dynamics. In addition, knowing the level of the ocean, which is determined by the Earth's gravity, and not just the ebb and flow that occur under the influence of the Moon's gravity, it will be much easier for oceanologists and environmentalists to track its changes. In general, this mission will contribute to the Earth in many aspects, as well as commercially pay off.

(Andrey M. Zamoroka)

The flight of man into space is the greatest event in the history of mankind. What did the inhabitants of the Earth see through the eyes of the first astronauts? Before the eyes of the world's first astronaut Yu. A. Gagarin the near and far space, devoid of an airy, light-scattering environment, appeared as a silent realm of endless night, universal peace and order, where large, convex, cold and unblinking stars shone against the impenetrable background of velvet darkness, constellations looked like diamond and pearl pendants, diamond scattering more clearly countless galaxies and the Milky Way have been identified. All blue, in clouds and iridescent halos, the Earth seemed to be floating in the ocean of the universe.

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https://pandia.ru/text/78/303/images/image004_34.jpg" width="189" height="151 src=">.jpg" align="left" width="333" height="346 src=">Various layers of brightness were visible in the Earth's atmosphere, the result of a dazzling glow of the air, which turned into a raging flame of various colors, with a predominance of crimson and blue colors. presented a magical spectacle polar shine over Antarctica. They were golden rays, like the teeth of a giant crown. Thunderstorms, flashes of many lightnings, silvery clouds and traces of meteorites burning in the earth's atmosphere looked just as majestic from above.

Fig.5. Map, drawn up With using space pictures

As we approach the Earth, our planet is seen as soft blue with vast blue spots of clouds, green expanses of forests, yellow-orange zones of steppes and deserts.

We live with you on the planet Earth, which rushes in the infinite expanse of the Universe, surrounded by a pale blue halo. In the minds of astronauts, the picture of the cosmic abyss with planets and stars strikes the imagination with amazing, unusual, bright, dazzlingly pure colors. According to photographs and, especially, according to the descriptions of astronauts, our Earth in space looks like a silvery-bluish ball, shining in a dark blue expanse of stars twinkling with cold light.

As we approach Earth, our planet appears pale blue with vast patches of oceans and green islands of forests that lie between the yellow-orange zones of deserts and steppes.

Interesting fact. The astronaut admitted that he was captured and fascinated by the picture of the cosmic abyss. Look at the stars - they are motionless, and the Sun seems to be soldered into the velvet of the sky. Only the Earth rushes before my eyes. Breathtaking from the endless space. Returning to Earth, A. Leonov drew an amazing picture: an astronaut soars high above the planet, covering part of the Earth's surface with his shadow. And what amazing, unusual colors - pure, dazzlingly bright.

Now any student will say that our planet has a spherical shape. And it is very easy to prove this - with a photograph of the Earth, taken from space for the first time by an astronaut pilot in 1961.

Thousands of years separate us from the time when people first thought about the shape of the Earth. According to the surviving sources, scientists bit by bit restored for us those distant ideas about the shape of our planet. What were they like? Here are some of them.

What were first representation ancient people O form Earth?

In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the sun god arises from the boundless waters of the Ocean, which is the beginning of all things. He separates the forces of Heaven and Earth, and therefore is depicted between them, supporting the starry sky with his hands.

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The Egyptians, whose whole life was connected with the Nile Valley, imagined the Earth as oblong, stretching from north to south, like the bottom of a long box. The sky stretched out overhead, "like a tent to live in."

Rice. 7. Representation O form Earth at ancient Babylonians

In ancient Babylon, the Earth was considered either as an inverted boat, or as a “pyramidal temple” with seven floors, and sometimes as a large dome or as a hollow mountain rising from the depths of the Ocean.

The peoples of ancient India imagined the Earth as flat, lying on the backs of three elephants, which float in the boundless Ocean on a huge turtle.

Fig.8. Representation O form Earth at ancient Hindus.

The ancient Chinese had myths about an egg-shaped world. However, they represented the Earth more square than round.

For the first time, the idea that the Earth is not flat, but a three-dimensional body appeared among ancient Greek scientists. At first, they believed that the Earth as a kind of "circular" body (drum, disk) floats in the Ocean. These ideas were formed not by exact calculations, but speculatively, like a philosophical theory.

The idea of ​​the spherical shape of the Earth was first expressed by the ancient Greek scientist Parmenides(about 540 or 520 BC), who believed that the shape of the ball was ideal.

The first proof of the sphericity of the Earth was given by Aristotle, watching the shadow of the Earth on the surface of the moon at night.

Rice. 9. gradual moving shadows Earth on the surfaces Moon

By drawing determine what form It has shadow from Earth on the surfaces Moon. O how it testifies?

The famous ancient Greek mathematician agreed with the idea of ​​Aristotle Archimedes(about 2 years BC). He believed that since the Earth has high mountains, plains and deep depressions, it cannot be an ideal ball. Archimedes would be the first to propose the use of the term spheroid , denoting a figure close to sphere, but not quite a perfect ball. (A sphere is a closed surface, all points of which are equidistant from the center; the surface and interior of the ball.)

The idea of ​​an "infallible" round planet existed for a very long time - until the end of the 18th century. But the Earth could be an ideally correct ball only if it did not rotate around its axis. Then the matter that makes up the planet would be evenly distributed around its center.

Englishman Isaac newton(gg.) and Dutchman Christian Huygens(gg.) proved that the Earth cannot have the shape of a regular ball. After all, if a spherical body rotates for a long time and quickly around its axis, then it will be compressed at the poles and elongated in the middle. This form is called ellipsoid .

Rice. 10. Ellipsoid.

The Earth shrank at the poles in the distant past, when, according to one hypothesis, it was a non-cooled, plastic body. The equatorial part of the Earth moved away from the axis of rotation, and the poles approached. As a result, it turned out that the distance from the center to the poles is 6356 km, and from the center to the equator it is 22 km more, and is 6378 km.

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(Geoid – from Greek words ge - Land, eidos- view, i.e., having the appearance of the Earth, a closed figure, which is taken as a flattened figure of the Earth.)

Rice. 12. Uneven distribution masses earthly substances

Rice. 13. geoid

Interesting fact . By carefully examining Figure 12, it is easy to see that the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the Earth are asymmetric (from the Greek asittetri- disproportion, violation of symmetry): one is not a mirror image of the other. What explains this asymmetry of the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth?

It has been established that the structure and composition of the rocks that make up these hemispheres are different. Forces directed parallel to the axis of rotation (namely, from south to north) moved the masses of terrestrial matter in the same direction. Therefore, the density of the terrestrial matter of the Southern Hemisphere decreases and during rotation it experiences greater compression than the Northern Hemisphere. As a result of this, the Earth acquired a rather peculiar shape: at the South Pole it is slightly concave, at the North Pole it is convex (See Fig. 14). Experts came up with a name for it: cardioid - heart-shaped figure.

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Polar shine Geoid Horizon Sphere Spheroid Ellipsoid

Check their knowledge

1. Describe how looks Land from space.

Imagine yourself what you returned from space flight. At you weight impressions. Everything are waiting from you interesting stories. O what impressions, experiences you tell me?

2. What kind representation O form Earth were at ancient Egyptians?

3. What kind representation O form Earth were at ancient Babylonians Chinese and Indians?

4. What kind are common representation O form Earth were at ancient Greek scientists? On the how they based?

5. Who and how for the first time proved sphericity Earth?

6. What kind amendments v idea sphericity Earth introduced Archimedes? How he named form Earth?

7. Who and how proved what Land It has form ellipsoid?

8. Why Land not maybe be right ellipsoid and which title gave form Earth?

9. How explained asymmetry Northern and Southern hemispheres Earth and how called such form our planets?

10. Imagine, what Land It has form disk or drum, floating v Ocean. Can whether then commit circumnavigation journey? Why?

11. Imagine yourself what you commit mine first space flight. flying past earth, you, no doubt saw would, how she beautiful and perfect on form. Why v space form Earth perceived how ball?

§ 27. What is the earth's axis and what is the significance of the Earth's rotation around it

Terrestrial axis An imaginary straight line around which the earth rotates daily is called. The earth's axis passes through the center of the earth and intersects the earth's surface at the geographic poles. With its northern end, it is directed to a point near the North Star.

Find and Show her on the figure 15 earthly axis and Polar star.

Fig.15. Direction terrestrial axes

The axis of rotation of the Earth is inclined to the plane of its orbit at an angle 66.5° ( or 23.5° from the vertical ). This slope provides the most favorable conditions for life in most of the Earth.

The earth rotates on its axis from west to east in the same direction as it moves in its orbit. The Earth makes a complete revolution around its axis in 24 hours, that is, in a day.

The rotation of the earth on its axis is called axial or daily.

Rice. 16. Rotation Earth around his axes

The axial rotation of the Earth deflects bodies moving horizontally to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. As a result of this, there is a deviation of the directions of constant winds, the displacement of river beds and the erosion of the right banks in the Northern Hemisphere and the left ones in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rice. 17 valleys rivers v different hemispheres

By drawings determine v what hemispheres flow these rivers. By what featured you it determined?

Which meaning It has change days and nights for alive organisms?

As you know, the change of day and night for living organisms is of great importance. You could watch the flowers of dandelion, calendula and other plants open and close at certain times of the day.

Only in a few habitats (dark caves, lower layers of soil, at sea depths) the change of day and night has practically no effect on living organisms.

During the day, the activity of most animals and plants varies significantly. This phenomenon is called daily rhythm, it is caused by periodic changes in illumination due to the rotation of the Earth around its axis.

The difference in illumination and temperature during the day leads to a change in the intensity of such complex processes in living organisms as the formation of organic substances, respiration, and the evaporation of water by plant leaves.

The daily mode of life of the organism is most clearly manifested in the periods of wakefulness and sleep, in the need to change vigorous activity and rest. During sleep, the vital processes of the body are restored, protecting it from exhaustion.

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Rice. 19. Animals, leading different image life

So: Land revolves around imaginary lines - axes, which tilted To plane orbits under corner, equal 66.5°. Full turnover around his axes our planet commits per period time which the called for days. Per it time period going on change days and night.

Axial rotation Earth rejects body, moving horizontally: v Northern hemisphere - right, v Southern - to the left.

Change days and nights at alive organisms formed daily allowance rhythms v alternation periods activity (waking) and rest (sleep).

Axial rotation Earth * Axis rotation Earth * Day * Daily rotation Earth

* per diem rhythms alive organisms

Interesting fact. There are a number of experiments confirming the rotation of the Earth around its axis. One of them was developed and demonstrated in 1851 by a French physicist Jean Foucault(gg.). The essence of this experience is as follows. A pendulum - a load hanging freely on a long thread - when swinging, invariably retains the plane of its swing. Such a pendulum, attached to the ceiling of a tall building, moves in space with it due to the rotation of the Earth, but at the same time continues to maintain the direction of its oscillations.

Foucault, attached a tip to the weight of the pendulum, and on the floor, in a circle, poured sand rollers. When the pendulum swings, the tip leaves more and more footprints in the sand. In Foucault's experiments in Paris, the length of the pendulum was 67 meters; and the weight of the load is 28 kg. The longer the pendulum thread, the slower the swing. The farther from the equator the experiment is carried out, the greater the apparent deviation of the pendulum. At each of the poles, the difference between the initial direction of the swing of the pendulum and the direction after an hour is 15°. There is no pendulum deflection at the equator.

Foucault's experience from 1931 until recently was demonstrated in St. Petersburg in St. Isaac's Cathedral. The length of the pendulum was 98 m; and the load had a mass of 60 kg.

Armadillo" href="/text/category/bronenosetc/" rel="bookmark">armadillos have been almost all their lives.

For some people, half the dose of sleep is enough. Such people, for example, were Peter I, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Edison.

A person deprived of sleep for a long time begins to see objects as if in a distorting mirror, through a foggy haze. He sees dreams in reality. Violation of the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness can lead not only to insomnia, but also to diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems. Prolonged (more than 10 days) sleep deprivation can lead to death.

Interesting fact. Under the influence of other planets in the solar system, the angle of the earth's axis increases annually by 0.468 ". Calculations show that this angle will increase for about 15,000 years, and then begin to decrease. This explains the small changes in the direction of the Earth's axis of rotation.

Check their knowledge

1. What called axis Earth?

2. Select right answer: axis Earth can see on the map; photos Earth v space; globe compass.

3. What such day? What they equal and how called Other time days?

4. How can observe axial rotation Earth?

5. name consequences rotation Earth around his axes.

6. V how appears daily rhythm at alive organisms?

7*.On what kind groups share alive organisms v dependencies from alternation at them periods activity and rest? Lead examples.

The generally accepted statement that ancient scientists considered our Earth to be flat is not entirely true. Of course, someone considered it flat, but in fact there were several versions, including one that the Earth is a ball. Today, it would seem, all points over i are placed and no one doubts that the Earth is a ball revolving around the Sun.

No matter how. Whether for the sake of laughter or for the sake of PR, or maybe for religious reasons, but the world has again split into two opposing camps on this issue. Are you surprised? If they come up to you and begin to assert that the Earth is flat, will you twist at your temple? Oh well. Is the fact that the Earth is a ball (to be precise, a geoid) and revolves around the Sun, a generally accepted theory and, it seemed, beyond doubt? It wasn't there...

What is the Earth: round or flat?

On the one hand, modern science claims that the Earth is round, and on the other hand ... At the head, perhaps, is the Flat Earth Society. The main goal is to prove that the Earth is flat, and the governments of all countries are conspiring and misleading in various ways about the sphericity of the Earth, hiding the fact that the Earth is flat.

The Flat Earth Society still finds its adherents.

The basic concepts of a flat earth society are:

The Earth is a flat disk, 40,000 kilometers in diameter, centered on the North Pole.

The sun and moon and stars move over the surface of the earth.

Gravity is denied. Free fall acceleration occurs because the Earth is moving upward with an acceleration of 9.8 m/s². Due to the curvature of space-time, this can last indefinitely.

The South Pole is gone. Antarctica is actually the icy edge of our disk - a wall encircling our world.

All photographs of the Earth from space are fakes.

The distance between objects in the southern hemisphere is actually much greater. The fact that flights between them are much faster than it should be according to the map of a flat Earth is simply explained - the crews of the airliners are involved in a conspiracy.

The Sun is something like a powerful searchlight 51 km in diameter, which circles over the Earth at a distance of 4800 km and illuminates it.

Everything that happens is an experiment on us.

All scientific institutions deliberately lie about the earth being spherical and so on.

The government is also lying - working for their masters - reptilians.

There were no flights into space, there’s nothing to say about the Moon, it’s all a hoax.

All videos about flights into space were filmed on Earth.

And off we go. Gradually, the world splits into two halves. One goes to live on a round and spherical Earth, the other - also round, but flat.

Both sides provide "irrefutable" evidence of their vision of the shape of the earth.

Here are some of the most interesting facts of the universe from the lips of both opponents.

The earth is flat because:

IN THE ZONE OF VISIBILITY THE HORIZON LINE IS FLAT Flat-Earth Evidence: Take any photo that has a flat horizon line, not a rounded one. Ball-Earth Refutation: to see real curves of the horizon line or a plane in the frame, you need a much greater distance from the shooting point from the surface of the earth. This is clearly visible in pictures from space. flat earth response: all images from space are fakes of NASA and the like. Space does not exist.

THE BIBLE SAYS A FLAT EARTH

Flat Earth Evidence: in many descriptions in the Bible, the earth is a flat earth.

(Daniel 4:7, 8): “The visions of my head on my bed were like this: I saw, behold, a very tall tree in the middle of the earth. This tree was large and strong, and its height reached to the sky, and it was apparently up to the ends of the whole earth » -

This expression only applies to a flat earth.

Balloon rebuttal:(published taking into account the opinions of fundamentalist Christians):

it should immediately be clarified that the Bible is not a scientific work aimed at explaining the structure of the universe. In the Holy Scriptures, this is done figuratively and in a language understandable to the common people, based on the knowledge that the people had at that time. However, when carefully read and interpreted, the Bible does not contradict modern science and does not indicate that the Earth is not spherical.

In this case, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom, who ruled from September 7, 605 to October 7, 562 BC, is described. e .. The tree in a dream, as it turned out from the interpretation of the dream by Daniel, is Nebuchadnezzar himself. Correctly considered the edge of the Earth should be the border of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom, for a simple reason: Nebuchadnezzar never ruled the whole Earth. In addition, it speaks of seeing, and not of direct observation.

Flat earth:

(Isaiah 42:5): “Thus says the Lord God, who made the heavens and their expanse, who spread out the earth with its products.” This can only be done with flat earth.

Balloon rebuttal:

This description refers to what is currently called the continents. Modern science, with minor reservations, considers the continents to be flat. If this action is considered applicable to a plane, this does not indicate in any way that the entire Earth is also flat.

Flat earth:there is no continuation of the dialogue from the opponent yet

(Matthew 4:8): “Again the devil takes him [Jesus] to a very high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory”

This is only possible if the earth is flat.

Balloon rebuttal(from Bible scholars and scholars):

All the highest mountains on Earth are known. Climbers climbed everything, and more than once. To consider all the “kingdoms”, alas, is not possible with any of them, and the reason is not at all that the Earth is round (this is just not a hindrance), but that it is impossible to consider anything at such a distance . But a modern person can see “all the kingdoms of the world” on a computer or smartphone monitor. However, the possibilities and abilities of Satan are far superior to human ones. In what way he showed the kingdoms and why a high mountain was needed, we do not know.

The most interesting thing is that theoretically this is how you can view the entire Earth. Don't be surprised, it's really true. This phenomenon is called diffraction. Under certain conditions, we see the horizon line much further than theoretically we should see it. This is how mirages occur. Of course, in real life, the chances of seeing something like this are incredibly small. After all, this requires a certain air temperature, humidity, transparency and, possibly, something else. Even less likely to see the whole Earth. And absolutely insignificant - to view what you want. But who said that the devil does not know how to use this phenomenon? Showing such mirages-pictures to Jesus would be a very effective way to influence his human spiritual and sensual nature in order to achieve admiration from him. On the other hand, here, too, we can talk about seeing without direct observation.

Flat earth:there is no continuation of the dialogue from the opponent yet

(Job 38:12,13): “Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning and indicated to the dawn its place, so that it embraces ends of the earth and shook off the wicked from her…”

(Job. 37:3 ) "Under the whole sky, its peal, and its brilliance - to the ends of the earth ."

Edges can only have a plane.

Balloon rebuttal:(from Bible scholars and scholars):

The Lord speaks to Job about the unshakable, established by Him order of the alternation of day and night. It is figuratively said that the dawn disperses darkness and stops the deeds of the wicked committed at night. The expression "end of the earth" is also used by those who are well aware of the spherical shape of the Earth.

There are other references in the Bible to the edges and corners of the Earth, which can be interpreted in different ways: for example, that these are the edges of continents or countries. In addition, the Bible itself confirms that the word "earth" means dry land:

(Gen. 1:10 ) And God called the land earth and called the collection of waters the seas.

Therefore, as proof that the earth is flat, these scriptures cannot be accepted.

Flat earth:there is no continuation of the dialogue from the opponent yet

BEDFORD EXPERIMENT

Conducted in 1838 by Samuel Rowbotham. This experiment is considered the most reliable evidence.

The essence of the experiment is extremely simple. Rowbotham found a flat area of ​​about 10 km (6 miles) on the Bedford River. He set up the telescope at a height of 20 inches (50.8 cm) from the surface of the water and began to observe the receding boat with a five-meter mast.

Throughout the movement of the boat, the mast was visible. On the basis of which Rowbotham declared that the Earth is flat.

If the earth were round, the mast would have been out of sight.

Balloon rebuttal:

uplift horizon in this case was due to the phenomenon of refraction. Due to positive refraction, the visible horizon has risen. As a result, its geographic range has increased compared to its geometric range. This made it possible to see objects hidden by the curvature of the Earth. At normal temperature, the rise of the horizon is 6-7%.

Reference: When the temperature rises too high the visible horizon can rise to the true mathematical horizon. At the same time, the earth's surface will visually straighten. The earth, to the delight of flat earthers, will become flat. Of course, only visually. The visibility range under these conditions will become infinitely large. The radius of curvature of the beam can become equal to the radius of the globe.

Reference: The Italian physicist and astronomer Grimaldi Francesco Maria (1618-1663) is considered the discoverer of the refraction of light.

Naturally, Samuel Rowbotham was well aware of the phenomena of refraction. And it is quite logical that the published book describing experiments proving that the Earth is flat did not arouse any interest among scientists. But there were many adherents. One of Hemplen's followers even made a bet of 500 pounds (the amount, at that time, not a small amount) that he supposedly would prove to any opponent that the Earth is flat. And such an opponent was found. It was the scientist Alfred Wallace. Of course, he knew exactly what he was doing. The experiment was carried out in the same valley. But Wallace slightly changed the observation. He used an intermediate point - a bridge, on which the circle was fixed. A horizontal line was placed at the end point. The telescope, circle and line were at the same height relative to the surface of the water. If the Earth were flat, a line could be seen through the circle at its center. Naturally, this did not happen. However, Hemplen refused to pay the due amount and called Wallace a liar and a forger.

So what is Earth?

Isn't it time to tell the true story that Magellan just swam in circles, not around the Earth. Cook, in search of Antarctica, sailed along the edge of the Earth. And by the way, he was right: Antarctica does not exist! Kruzenshtern also doubted for nothing when he discovered Antarctica. After all, he just ran into an icy wall that was created so that the oceans would not flow out. It is not clear, of course, how he managed to get around our Earth disk (yes, yes, disk, let's call a spade a spade) in 751 days. Again conspiracy and falsification! He didn’t put anything on the map and didn’t go anywhere, I suppose he drank beer somewhere in Australia, and they gave him ready-made maps, they drew them in NASA. NASA is such a special organization that fools us for our billions, draws cool pictures of space, makes programs for viewing the supposedly round Earth, films hoax shows of flying into space and to the moon. Governments are in cahoots, all scientists are in cahoots, pilots are in cahoots, the police are also in the know - collusion, all smart people are also in cahoots. In short, everything is in conspiracy against honest people who understand the essence of the true universe and, finally, with the advent of the Internet, are ready to open the eyes of those who are not yet in the know.

This is what this serious problem looks like today. So what kind of Earth do we actually live on? If you know any facts, please report them in the comments. Perhaps in the article you will be able to detect inaccuracies or the need to supplement it, we also comment. And we will certainly make an addition, and possibly a continuation, taking into account all your comments and wishes. Please behave correctly, and do not send aponents to the third grade of high school or to a psychiatrist, twist your finger at the temple. Checked - not working. Only weighty arguments and evidence of a flat or spherical Earth will help save the situation.

Our planet is one of 9 that revolve around the sun. Even in ancient times, the first ideas about the shape and size of the Earth appeared.

How have ideas about the shape of the Earth changed?

Ancient thinkers (Aristotle - 3rd century BC, Pythagoras - 5th century BC, etc.) many centuries ago expressed the idea that our planet has a spherical shape. Aristotle (pictured below), in particular, taught after Eudoxus that the Earth, which is the center of the Universe, is spherical. He saw proof of this in the nature of lunar eclipses. With them, the shadow cast by our planet on the Moon has a rounded shape at the edges, which is possible only if it is spherical.

Astronomical and geodetic research carried out in the following centuries gave us the opportunity to judge what the shape and dimensions of the Earth are in reality. Today, that it is round, they know from small to large. But there were times in history when it was believed that the planet Earth was flat. Today, thanks to the progress of science, we no longer doubt that it is round, not flat. Indisputable proof of this is space photographs. The sphericity of our planet leads to the fact that the earth's surface heats up unevenly.

But in fact, the shape of the Earth is not quite the same as we used to think. This fact is known to scientists, and it is currently used to solve problems in the field of satellite navigation, geodesy, astronautics, astrophysics and other related sciences. For the first time, the idea of ​​what the actual shape of the Earth is was expressed by Newton at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. He theoretically substantiated the assumption that our planet, under the influence of gravity on it, should be compressed in the direction of the axis of rotation. And this means that the shape of the Earth is either a spheroid or an ellipsoid of revolution. The degree of compression depends on the angular velocity of rotation. That is, the faster the body rotates, the more it flattens at the poles. This scientist proceeded from the principle of universal gravitation, as well as from the assumption of a homogeneous liquid mass. He assumed that the Earth is a compressed ellipsoid, and determined, depending on the speed of rotation, the size of the compression. After some time, Maclaurin proved that if our planet is an ellipsoid compressed at the poles, then the balance of the oceans covering the Earth is indeed ensured.

Can we assume that the Earth is round?

If the planet Earth is viewed from afar, it will appear almost perfectly round. An observer who does not care about high measurement accuracy may well consider it as such. The average radius of the Earth in this case is 6371.3 km. But if we, taking the shape of our planet as an ideal ball, begin to make accurate measurements of the various coordinates of points on the surface, we will not succeed. The fact is that our planet is not a perfectly round ball.

Different Ways to Describe the Shape of the Earth

The shape of the planet Earth can be described in two main ways, as well as several derivative ones. It can be taken in most cases as either a geoid or an ellipsoid. It is interesting that the second option is easily described mathematically, but the first one is not described in principle, since in order to determine the exact shape of the geoid (and, consequently, the Earth), practical measurements of gravity are carried out at various points on the surface of our planet.

Ellipsoid of revolution

Everything is clear with the ellipsoid of revolution: this figure resembles a ball, which is flattened from below and from above. The fact that the shape of the Earth is an ellipsoid is quite understandable: centrifugal forces arise due to the rotation of our planet at the equator, while they do not exist at the poles. As a result of rotation, as well as centrifugal forces, the Earth has become "fat": the diameter of the planet along the equator is approximately 50 km larger than the polar one.

Features of a figure called "geoid"

An extremely complex figure is the geoid. It exists only in theory, but in practice it cannot be felt or seen. One can imagine the geoid as a surface, the force of gravity at each point of which is directed strictly vertically. If our planet were a regular ball filled evenly with some substance, then the plumb line at any point on it would look at the center of the ball. But the situation is complicated by the fact that the density of our planet is heterogeneous. In some places there are heavy rocks, in others voids, mountains and depressions are scattered over the entire surface, plains and seas are also unevenly distributed. All this changes the gravitational potential at each specific point. The fact that the shape of the globe is a geoid is also to blame for the ethereal wind that blows our planet from the north.

Who studied geoids?

Note that the very concept of "geoid" was introduced by Johann Listing (pictured below), a physicist and mathematician, in 1873.

Under it, meaning in Greek "view of the Earth", was meant a figure formed by the surface of the World Ocean, as well as the seas communicating with it, at an average water level, without disturbances from tides, currents, as well as differences in atmospheric pressure, etc. When they say that such and such an altitude above sea level, this means the height from the surface of the geoid at this point on the globe, despite the fact that there is no sea in this place, and it is several thousand kilometers from it.

Subsequently, the concept of the geoid was repeatedly refined. Thus, the Soviet scientist M. S. Molodensky created his own theory of determining the gravitational field and the figure of the Earth from measurements made on its surface. To do this, he developed a special device that measures gravity - a spring gravimeter. It was he who also proposed the use of a quasi-geoid, which is determined by the values ​​taken by the gravity potential on the Earth's surface.

More about the geoid

If gravity is measured 100 km from the mountains, then the plumb line (that is, the weight on the thread) will deviate in their direction. Such a deviation from the vertical is imperceptible to our eye, but it is easily detected by instruments. A similar picture is observed everywhere: deviations of the plumb line are greater somewhere, somewhere they are less. And we remember that the surface of the geoid is always perpendicular to the plumb line. From this it becomes clear that the geoid is a very complex figure. In order to better imagine it, you can do the following: fashion a ball of clay, then squeeze it on both sides to form a flattened shape, then make bumps and dents on the resulting ellipsoid with your fingers. Such a flattened rumpled ball will quite realistically show the shape of our planet.

Why do we need to know the exact shape of the Earth?

Why do you need to know its shape so precisely? What does not satisfy scientists about the spherical shape of the Earth? Should the picture be complicated by the geoid and the ellipsoid of revolution? Yes, there is an urgent need for this: figures close to the geoid help to create coordinate grids that are the most accurate. Neither astronomical research, nor geodetic surveys, nor various satellite navigation systems (GLONASS, GPS) can exist and be carried out without determining a fairly accurate shape of our planet.

Various coordinate systems

The world currently has several three-dimensional and two-dimensional coordinate systems with world significance, as well as several dozen local ones. Each of them has its own form of the Earth. This leads to the fact that the coordinates that were determined by different systems are somewhat different. Interestingly, in order to calculate them at points located on the territory of one country, it will be most convenient to take the shape of the Earth as a reference ellipsoid. This is now established even at the highest legislative level.

Ellipsoid of Krasovsky

If we talk about the CIS countries or Russia, then on the territory of these states the shape of our planet is described by the so-called Krasovsky ellipsoid. It was identified back in 1940. Domestic (PZ-90, SK-63, SK-42) and foreign (Afgooye, Hanoi 1972) coordinate systems were created on the basis of this figure. They are still used for practical and scientific purposes. It is interesting that GLONASS relies on the PZ-90 system, which is superior in its accuracy to the similar WGS84 system adopted as the basis for GPS.

Conclusion

Summing up, let's say again that the shape of our planet is different from the ball. The earth is approaching in its shape an ellipsoid of revolution. As we have already noted, this question is not at all idle. Determining exactly what shape the Earth is gives scientists a powerful tool to calculate the coordinates of heavenly and terrestrial bodies. And this is very important for space and marine navigation, during construction, geodetic work, as well as in many other areas of human activity.