So today across Europe there is a solar eclipse.... how do flatearthers meet today's solar eclipse

Today is rather awkward ......

 

On 12 August 2026, the Moon is passing directly between the Sun and Earth, producing a total solar eclipse along a precisely calculated path across Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain, while much of Europe—including the UK—sees a very deep partial eclipse.

 

And here's the interesting bit:

Astronomers didn't just say, "There'll probably be an eclipse somewhere in Europe."

They calculated exactly when it would happen, exactly where it would be visible, how much of the Sun would be covered at different locations, and where the Moon's shadow would travel…. then we get to watch the calculation happen….IN REAL TIME… Across an entire continent.

 

People in different countries can look up and see different amounts of the Sun disappearing exactly as predicted.

 

This presents Flat Earth with a tiny problem. Where's the flat-earth calculation? Not the explanation after the event, the prediction.

 

Can you give us the mathematical model that starts with your flat disc, your little local sun and moon, and predicts today's eclipse across Europe?

Please tell: - What time does it begin? Where does the shadow go? Where is totality? How long does it last?

Most importantly, why does someone hundreds of kilometres away see a different percentage of the Sun covered at precisely the predicted time?

 

The spherical-Earth model answers all of those questions.

Flat Earth generally answers them with some combination of: "Perspective." "Local Sun." "Electromagnetic plasma." And then resorts to conspiracies – e.g. "NASA lies." Or even, apparently, occasionally an invisible celestial object that nobody can actually demonstrate exists.

 

That's not a predictive model. That's making up the rules after you've seen the result!

 

And today's eclipse is particularly inconvenient because the Moon's shadow has a measurable, moving path across the Earth's surface. It isn't sitting over one bloke's garden waiting for him to decide whether it looks convincing.

 

So, here's a modest challenge for the Flat-Earthers: Stop borrowing the predictions produced by spherical-Earth astronomy and then pretending your model explains them, why not produce your own?

Before the next eclipse, publish the mathematics, predict the path, predict the timings and predict the duration. - Then compare the results.

 

Saying "the Earth looks flat from my balcony" isn't a scientific argument, it's just a statement about the height of your balcony. Today, while millions of people across Europe watch the Moon move across the Sun exactly as orbital mechanics predicts, the Flat-Earth explanation remains what it has always been: an enormous amount of confidence resting on an almost complete absence of mathematics.

On 6/15/2026 at 5:23 AM, save the frogs said:

Ok, how about this then?

This is absolutely relevant to the topic.

Her thesis is that conspiracy theorists should NOT be completely ignored and it's perhaps the most eloquent and well-thought out response to your initial question.

they weren't conspiracy theorists! They were an actual conspiracy!!