Garrett,
Alternately, the above 'common center quite a ways beyond earth'
may be an argument that we live in an illusion, like a Star Trek
Holo-deck, where we sometimes get a glimpse of clues we weren't
intended to spot. That is, your recollection (above) of the
'KeelyNet files', combined with a separate puzzlement of my own,
leads me to the following.....
Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but this has boggled me
for decades. Why do the common satellite TV antennas that point
towards geostationary satellites always seem to be inclined at
about 25 degrees up from the horizon -- at least here in
Southern California (your latitude may vary) ?
There shouldn't be any geosynchronous satellites out in that
direction -- they should be about 50 degrees from the horizon,
or ABOVE the half way point to true vertical. This is easy to
prove if you can do, or imagine, ordinary technical drafting.
The earth's radius is 4,000 miles, and the geostationary altitude
is an additional 22,307 miles (use a radius of 26,000 miles),
always directly above the equator, regardless of the mass of the
orbiting mass (assuming we use Newtonian physics applying to a
geosynchronous earth orbit).
Yet all these satellite antennas pointing towards empty space have
been pushing mass media at us for decades. Who's 'out there'
and what are they flying their antennas on, if they aren't in a
true geostationary orbit ??
Do the technicians who install them just aim the antenna
'empirically' at the point of 'maximum signal strength',
regardless of the actual angle (which they never check) ?
To put this to rest, can someone point me to instructions for
aiming these antennas, or directions for calculating the exact
angle at which to point a synchronous satellite antenna
(depending upon latitude) ? I'm wondering if such instructions
exist..... or if I've inadvertantly spotted another 'clue'.
--Bill
============================================================
"The heresy of all heresies in a tyranny is common sense."
-- George Orwell
============================================================