Originally posted by SuzianneRec'd. It's really cool that you can see the shadow of the earth, I didn't know that.
Not necessarily.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100729.html
More precisely, this is not the actual curvature of the earth, but rather proof of it. π
(The shape of the shadow is determined by the curvature of the earth.)
And you can see this from ground level! (Granted, a clear horizon makes it easier to see.)
Originally posted by SuzianneI guess city folk would never see this, eh. You obviously have to have a flat horizon, maybe on an ocean or in the desert. So it is making a shadow which is visible because of the dust in space? I wouldn't have thought there would be enough dust to be visible this way.
No. It's the earth's shadow as it projects into space.
Edit: Obviously, you have to look for this at sunset (or sunrise, I suppose).
Edit2: I have a 1920 x 1080 monitor so I can see the whole pic full size. π
Yeah, I only have an old 19" LCD job myself. It's still better than the old 15 inchers we used to have to put up withπ