Does the firmament really exist?

The belief that Earth is round is about 2500 years old when ancient Greeks developed this point of view. They had no technology at that time to fly in the space and observe the shape of the planet. They based this claim on a vague yet simple argument that as Moon is spherical, Earth must follow this trend. Aristotle was the first man who came forward to support this opinion through physical evidence. Firstly, he observed the pattern of sailing ships at the horizon. He noted that they disappear hull first. He also analyzed the shadow of Earth on the Moon in case of an eclipse. He said:

“All of which goes to show not only that the Earth is circular in shape, but also that it is a sphere of no great size: for otherwise, the effect of so slight a change of place would not be so quickly apparent”

There are several reasons that are provided by the people who believe that Earth is spherical. The first one is that the weight stays the same at the horizon. For Earth to be flat, the entire effect of gravity will change. We experience an equal amount of pull wherever in the world we may go. Considering it flat in nature will make things on the horizons to go a bit sideways.

Also, things that are more towards the center will be pulled straight down. Another very common point that cements the statement, ‘Earth is round’ is that we don’t fall off from the planet. Humans have explored the universe in the most advanced ways like sailing on water and flying in the air. All the corners were visited and no one has fallen in the space. If we suppose that the Earth is flat, we could see a ship moving from New York to Africa without losing it. It is not possible because of the change of horizon.

Like ships in the oceans, stars in the sky also indicate that our planet is not flat. In case of flatness, the arrangement of stars will stay the same for all the people of the world. But that’s not the case. This is because our view is blocked by the Earth itself. The advancement of technology has improved many aspects of our lives. Studying our home planet is also one of them.

Read also: Earth is not flat. Here is the proof

In the last 50 years, a lot of work has been done in this field. Scientists have observed it from many angles and distances to verify the shape. Most of the images obtained including the Earthrise signifies that Earth is not a flat disk but has some roundish features to it. The work of Scott Kelly is exemplary in this aspect as he sees a sunrise every 90 minutes. The curve of the planet is also shown in real-time by him.

You can conclude this result even at your homes by performing this simple experiment. Dig a stick at your home and make your friend who lives a few blocks away from you to do the same. After that, measure the shadow length at both the places. In case of a flat shape, the result should have been identical but you will see that it varies. If we consider that Earth is flat, the only logical explanation of the relationship of it and the Sun will be that it orbits above our planet. If that is the case, the seasons and time will be same throughout the world. The presence of Time Zones confirms that Earth is circular in shape. The entire system of different timings for day and night at different geographical locations is possible if we follow the theory of Earth being in the shape of a globe.

Lastly, the planets of the entire Solar System have been examined using the high-resolution cameras. Satellites were sent to all of them to capture them from various angles and all the data collected in this regard points to the direction that planets are spheres. Now, as we know that the entire universe is dependent on gravity to exist and function properly, we can develop quite a reliable result that Earth is also circular. The planet formation process involves pulling out of cosmic gases, dust, and rocks in order to create them. All these reasons prove that the Earth is not Flat.