[philman_36]

Why doesn't the Sun do the same?
The sun does shrink. You need an arid environment for it to be noticeable. As you know water acts as a magnifier. You know, like how a pencil in a glass of water makes the pencil look bigger. Same principal. Dry air, shrinking sun. Moisture in the air means no noticeable difference.

You confuse Crepuscular rays from a nearby source with one from a very distant source.
No, I don't. A distant source would have rays that come out in apparenly straight lines.
You know, like rays from a light source 93 million miles away. There wouldn't BE crepuscular rays if that were the case.

Seeing them does not necessarily imply they are from a nearby source.
It most certainly DOES mean there is a nearby source.

[Nateman]

Water bends light because light travels slower in water. It takes the path of least energy so it bends. Magnification only occurs under special conditions such as a man made lens. Merely having water between you and an object is not necessarily going to make it look bigger.

The South Pole is dark 6 months of the year. How does your model explain that?

[Nateman]

This is a photo of the World's tallest building under cloud cover at sunset. The clouds go all the way to the horizon. You have to be looking down at the horizon because the clouds are beneath you. Also notice how shadow is starting to cover the Eastern side. This is because the curvature of the Earth has come in between those clouds and the Sun but the Western side is still lit.