Distance to the Sun

Q. Why are the celestial bodies and the sun so close to the earth's surface in the Flat Earth Model?

A. They have to be so close because if the shape of the earth changes, the distance to the celestial bodies must change as well. Astronomers use two different observations on far off points on earth to triangulate the distance of celestial bodies. When the shape of the earth changes, the triangulation changes, and our perception of the universe must therefore change as well.

If the earth is round, the celestial bodies are computed to be millions of miles distant.

If the earth is flat, the celestial bodies are triangulated to be relatively close to the earth's surface.

Here's a link which explains the idea: http://www.millersville.edu/physics/experiments/058/index.php. The first part goes over the Round Earth explanation for how the sun can be computed millions of miles distant. At the bottom there is a Flat Earth explanation for how the sun can be computed as being very close to the earth's surface. Scroll all the way to the bottom to the "alternative model" section. You will find that we can use Eratosthenes' data, in conjunction with the assumption of a Flat Earth, to confirm that in FET the sun is very near to the earth's surface.

Hence, if we assume that the earth is flat, triangles and trigonometry can demonstrate that the celestial bodies are fairly close to the earth.

There is no other way to get a distance for the sun. Just looking at it from a single point on earth will not tell you its distance, you must look at it from several points and account for the curvature or non-curvature of the distance between those points.

Please note: The writer of that article makes a unrelated side comment about the Flat Earth model --

    That is, as we move from Florida to Pennsylvania, our distance from the sun 
    increases by about 30%. As a consequence the apparant size of the sun should 
    decrease by 30%. We see no noticeable change in the apparent size of the sun as 
    we make the trip. We conclude that the flat earth/near sun model does not work.

This has nothing to do with Erasthone's calculations for the sun's distance and the writer apparently did not read Chapter 10 of Earth Not a Globe. See also: (Magnification_of_the_Sun_at_Sunset)

Sun's Distance according to Zetetic Cosmogony

Thomas Winship, author of Zetetic Cosmogony, provides a calculation demonstrating that the sun can be computed to be relatively close to the earth's surface --

"On March 21-22 the sun is directly overhead at the equator and appears 45 degrees above the horizon at 45 degrees north and south latitude. As the angle of sun above the earth at the equator is 90 degrees while it is 45 degrees at 45 degrees north or south latitude, it follows that the angle at the sun between the vertical from the horizon and the line from the observers at 45 degrees north and south must also be 45 degrees. The result is two right angled triangles with legs of equal length. The distance between the equator and the points at 45 degrees north or south is approximately 3,000 miles. Ergo, the sun would be an equal distance above the equator."

Sun's Distance According to Wilbur Voliva

Voliva also describes how the sun can be computed to 3,000 miles via triangulation:

http://theflatearthsociety.org/wiki/images/e/ea/Xlg_globe_3.jpg

See also

• Magnification of the Sun at Sunset