Quote:
Originally Posted by flatbutt
I'm enjoying this series too. Curved space is odd for sure. But with the discovery of gravitational waves we are going to need an understanding of curvature if we are ever going to have warp drive.  |
curved space is something astronomers, surveyors and navigators have dealt w/ for ages
The sum of the interior angles of the triangle connecting any 3 points of the surface of Earths oceans will always add up to more than 180°, on Continental areas it can be more or less than 180° depending on whether the surface has net concavity or net convexity. For instance if the area surveyed in in a valley where there is net concavity the sum of the interior angles is > 180°, but if the area surveyed is on a mountain where net curvature is convex the sum of the interior angles will be <180°. The only place where the interior angles of a triangle add up to 180° is on a flat surface like a desk. In astronomy it was debated for years whether the observable Universe had intrinsic curvature separate from the curvature induced my local mass or energy. Measurement has shown it to be flat within a .4% margin of error.
the shortest distance between any 2 points on the Earths surface for a navigator is an arc. part of a so called great circle.