Ephemeris: 05/23/2024 – My observations of the Earth as a globe

This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Thursday, May 23rd. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 9:13, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:05. The Moon, at full today, will rise at 9:58 this evening.

As far as I can remember back in time I’ve always thought that the Earth was a globe. To me that the Earth is flat is nonsensical. And I’ve looked to the sky as confirmation that the Earth was indeed a globe. During my first trip to a southern state I saw it for myself. From our vantage point here in Michigan the constellation of Scorpius the scorpion just scrapes the southern horizon at its highest. When traveling down to Kentucky it was higher in the sky, so that was my first proof that the Earth is round. I’ve since gone to Hawaii and even using the programs I wrote and use for the times for Ephemeris, based on the Earth as a globe, I was able to predict when and where to see the Southern Cross. It was right there as calculated by my program.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The dome of the sky as seen from Honolulu, Hawai’i on February 14th 2012. This image was created using my LookingUp program, the same one I used before the trip to Hawaii. The positions of the stars were based on the near spherical shape and rotation of the Earth. The Southern Cross which is abbreviated Cru is just above the south compass point on the chart. Crux is the actual name of the Southern Cross. It was a couple of degrees higher in the sky, when I saw it, as we were on a cruise ship off the west coast of the Big Island sailing from Maui to Hilo. I got up that morning at 3:00 AM and went to the bow of the ship and sure enough Crux was there just as my program predicted.

The dome of the sky is seen from Honolulu, Hawai’i on February 14th 2012. This particular image was created using Stellarium. As one can see the images are quite similar. The positions of the stars appear to be the same. As far as I know the only calculation that I have in common with Stellarium would be for sidereal time, that is the position of the sky east and west of the meridian which is north-south imaginary line that runs from the north compass point, through the zenith to the south compass point. Everything else was self derived using spherical trigonometry.