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“I’ve got to wonder if I am alone in not understanding what the heck point you are making.”

The subject is astrophysics and astronomy.

I was demonstrating the falsehood of the assertion of another FReeper who claims that the displacement of the Sun's apparent position from its actual position due to the rotation of the earth on its axis was 2.1°

If the Sun orbited the Earth, his claim of 2.1° displacement would be correct.

Needless to say, more than a few of this gentleman's ideas are a bit far out, not to mention completely unsupported by science.

Here is a graphic I made that reduces the physics down to just Diurnal aberration. (he asserted this model would produce a 2.1° displacement)

The angle of impact represents the displacement between the actual and apparent positions of the light source.

Rain that is falling straight down appears to slant when you are moving in a car due to your transverse motion to the path of the rain drops, causing the rain to appear to be coming from somewhere its not. (The same thing happens with photons and becomes more noticeable the faster you go)

Do you now understand what point I was making?

Do you now understand what point I was making?

I don't want to answer for gondramB, but for myself: heck no. I didn't understand it the first time I read this argument, and I don't understand it now. I think I get what LeGrande is arguing--the earth's rotation combined with the time it takes the sun's light to reach us means the sun isn't exactly where it appears to be. But I'm not sure whether you and mrjesse are arguing that the sun is where it appears to be; that it isn't but by a different amount than LeGrande claims; that it isn't but for a different reason than LeGrande claims; or even if you and mrjesse are making the exact same argument. I'm not even sure if your animation is supposed to demonstrate something you think is right or something you think is wrong.

All of this is my fault, I'm sure. Seriously.

If you could take that animation, center the Earth in the middle of the monitor, and rotate the monitor clockwise at the same speed the Earth is turning, wouldn’t the result be the Earth would be stationary, the sun would be revolving around the Earth, and the resultant displacement would be exactly the same?