“reality” as in extremely exaggerated deviations from the ellipsoid. Otherwise it would just look like a smooth sphere. Earth has 12’700 km diameter. From the shallowest point to mount everest are just about 20 km. That is a 0.15 % change. You would see nothing.
I think that would be too much. A bowling ball is really smooth. It would not roll as well with such deviations all over the place.
At a diameter of 22 cm, the roughness would have to be in the order of 0.3 mm, which would not just be visible due to the distorted reflections, it would even be audible while rolling.
Eheran@lemmy.world 10 months ago
“reality” as in extremely exaggerated deviations from the ellipsoid. Otherwise it would just look like a smooth sphere. Earth has 12’700 km diameter. From the shallowest point to mount everest are just about 20 km. That is a 0.15 % change. You would see nothing.
kn0wmad1c@programming.dev 10 months ago
To put in perspective how shallow a 0.15% change is, a dimple on a golf ball is roughly 4 times deeper than that (0.60% of a difference in depth).
MoonManKipper@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Bang on, the Pacific is not 250 miles deep…
Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world 10 months ago
“Smoother and rounder than a bowling ball” is my usual comparison
Eheran@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think that would be too much. A bowling ball is really smooth. It would not roll as well with such deviations all over the place.
At a diameter of 22 cm, the roughness would have to be in the order of 0.3 mm, which would not just be visible due to the distorted reflections, it would even be audible while rolling.