Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: 1of10
If I take a picture on the moon with the earth behind me, shouldn't it take up most of the sky behind me?

Some fairly easy trigonometry can answer that question. The vertex angle of an isoceles triangle is given by 2 * arctan(b / (2*h)). "h" in this case is about 250,000 miles (distance from the earth to the moon), and b is about 8,000 miles (diameter of the earth).

Plug the numbers into the formula and you see that, looking at the earth from the moon, the earth would have an apparent diameter of 18.2 degrees, which probably isn't very close to "most of the sky".

41 posted on 08/26/2023 7:12:56 AM PDT by Campion (Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - Little Flower)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies ]


To: Campion; All
the earth would have an apparent diameter of 18.2 degrees,

My calculations indicate you are off by a factor of 10, or 1 decimal point.

The apparent diameter would be 1.83 degrees.

69 posted on 08/26/2023 8:17:38 AM PDT by marktwain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson