Submitted by dumdumdaadum t3_yd39rf in explainlikeimfive
wjbc t1_itponk9 wrote
The Pole Star lies exactly overhead if seen from the North Pole. The farther south you travel, the lower it gets in the sky. It's not visible from the Southern Hemisphere at all, due to bulge in the middle portion of Earth. As Hawking notes, in Ancient Greece this was one of the proofs cited for the curvature of Earth.
dumdumdaadum OP t1_itpp0nu wrote
This makes sense, thanks! Do you by any chance know a visual representation video or something which I can see to understand it better?
TurkeyDinner547 t1_itpsqgh wrote
Hold a basketball over your head and notice how you can't see things on top or directly above it if your looking up from the bottom.
wjbc t1_itppb51 wrote
Sorry, not off hand. I know of this video starring Carl Sagan using the shadow method to prove curvature, but I would have to search for one using the Pole Star.
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