WaBis
walter.bislins.ch
Is the Constellation Big Dipper visible from Antarctica?
Since the Big Dipper cannot be seen on Earth from Antarctica, these flat-earthers believe they have found evidence of their flat-earth model. Here I show that the constellation they found is not the Big Dipper, but part of the constellation Sagittarius.
Star Constellation on the Antarctica Webcam
Link to the german flat earth Website: Die Erde ist flach: Der GROSSE Wagen auf einem Webcam-Bild in der ANTARKTIS
For better recognition I connected some stars with lines, both in the image of the webcam and in an image of much better quality. Select the tabs below the image to switch between the images webcam/HQ and with/without lines.
- Fake Dipper:
- Without Lines
- With Lines
- HQ Image with Identification Lines
- HQ Image Without Lines
Admittedly, at first glance this constellation resembles the Big Dipper. But are the proportions the same? And what about all the other stars around it?
I connected some additional stars with lines on the HQ image so that I could clearly identify the constellations in the different images.
Source of the HQ images: Nova Sgr 2015-2 auf Bildern der Webcam der Neumayer 3; Thorsten Lange, thola.de. The image shows the Neumayer-Station III in Antarctica.
Comparison Constellation Sagittarius with Big Dipper
Using the free software Stellarium I could identify the constellation in question, I call it the Fake Dipper, as part of the constellation Sagittarius.
- Sagittarius
- Sagittarius + Fake Dipper
- Fake Dipper
- Fake + Real Dipper
- Real Dipper
- Photo Dipper
A few bright stars are cut off in the webcam image. If you use these stars, which are not visible on the webcam, for the handle of the Big Dipper (orange lines), the Fake Dipper resembles the real Big Dipper much better.
A comparison with the constellation Big Dipper shows several differences:
- The proportions and angles of the Fake Dipper differ from those of the real Big Dipper.
- The brightness of the stars in the 2 constellations are different.
- In the Fake Dipper there are additional bright stars that are missing in the real Big Dipper.
- The constellation Sagittarius, and thus the Fake Dipper, extends directly into the Milky Way while the real Big Dipper is far from the Milky Way.
- The starry sky in Antarctica actually shows many more stars than the northern hemisphere, in which the real Big Dipper is located.
- All other stars also form completely different constellations than those in the northern hemisphere.
I have to wonder how desperately one can cling to a wrong view of the world. A constellation of stars is found in Antarctica that is somewhat similar to a constellation that cannot be seen from Antarctica. All differences between the two constellations are ignored. All other stars, galaxies and nebulae that have no equivalent in the northern hemisphere are ignored.