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The shadow of Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse is always a dark circle that moves from one side of the Moon to the other (partially grazing it during a partial eclipse). The only shape that casts a round shadow no matter which direction it is pointed is a sphere, and the ancient Greeks deduced that this must mean Earth is spherical. [8]
Spherical Earth or Earth's curvature refers to the approximation of the figure of the Earth to a sphere. The concept of a spherical Earth gradually displaced earlier beliefs in a flat Earth during classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. The figure of the Earth is more accurately described as an ellipsoid, which was realized in the early modern ...
The curvature of the Earth is evident in the horizon across the image, and the bases of the buildings on the far shore are below that horizon and hidden by the sea. The simplest model for the shape of the entire Earth is a sphere. The Earth's radius is the distance from Earth's center to its surface, about 6,371 km (3,959 mi). While "radius ...
Earth is rounded into an ellipsoid with a circumference of about 40,000 km. It is the densest planet in the Solar System. Of the four rocky planets, it is the largest and most massive. Earth is about eight light-minutes away from the Sun and orbits it, taking a year (about 365.25 days) to complete one revolution.
Contrary to the popular belief that the Earth was generally believed to be flat until a few hundred years ago, the spherical shape of the Earth (and other celestial bodies) has been widely accepted in the Western world (and universally by scholars) since at least the Hellenistic period (323 BCE–31 BCE), with the first known measurement of Earth's circumference conducted by Eratosthenes.
Round Earth umbra during the August 2008 lunar eclipse. Aristotle (384–322 BC) was Plato's prize student and "the mind of the school". [15] Aristotle observed "there are stars seen in Egypt and [...] Cyprus which are not seen in the northerly regions". Since this could only happen on a curved surface, he too believed Earth was a sphere "of no ...
Image credits: Furious Thoughts You can also use Google Earth to explore the planet and various cities, locations, and landscapes using coordinates.The program covers most of the globe (97% back ...
Earth radius (denoted as R 🜨 or R E) is the distance from the center of Earth to a point on or near its surface. Approximating the figure of Earth by an Earth spheroid (an oblate ellipsoid), the radius ranges from a maximum (equatorial radius, denoted a) of nearly 6,378 km (3,963 mi) to a minimum (polar radius, denoted b) of nearly 6,357 km (3,950 mi).