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Monday, November 13, 2017

Flat Earth Follies: All Moon Phases Occur At The Same Time!

This Flat Earther was telling me that I don't understand the Heliocentric/Globe model because we should see all phases of the Moon at the same time.  Say what!?
LOL -- okay.  After some discussion (and research on my part) I realized his misunderstanding comes from the FAA FAR/AIM manual (which is also copy & pasted on other sites) which reads:

For practical purposes, phases of the Moon and the percent of the Moon illuminated are independent of the location on the Earth from where the Moon is observed. That is, all the phases occur at the same time regardless of the observer's position.

And ok, I guess if you don't understand science at all you could misread the "phases occur at the same time" but since it explicitly says "phases of the Moon and the percent of the Moon illuminated are independent of the location on the Earth from where the Moon is observed" trying to read that as ALSO saying everyone sees a different phase of the moon is just dishonest.

When it says "all the phases" it clearly means "any/each phase" -- meaning there aren't any phases which do not follow this rule that everyone will see the same phase on the same day "For practical purposes".

That "For practical purposes" phrase is also important because, in actuality, observers far apart actually see very slightly different sides of the moon -- but because it's about 238,900 miles away even a few thousand miles apart is only a small shift.  And this small shift is exactly what we observe in reality.


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