Is Eratosthenes the luckiest guy ever?

https://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/eratosthenes.html

Eratosthenes will always be remembered for the calculation of the Earth's circumference circa 240 BC, using trigonometry and knowledge of the angle of elevation of the Sun at noon in Alexandria and Syene (now Aswan, Egypt). The calculation is based on the assumption that the Earth is spherical and that the Sun is so far away that its rays can be taken as parallel.

Today, most scientists set the earth's circumference at 40,096 kilometers (24,901 miles). This gives Eratosthenes' estimate less than a one percent error—an excellent approximation of the earth's circumference.

How could Eratosthenes accurately calculate the Earth's curvature if he assumed the sun rays were parallel? The sun rays I see don't look like their parallel.

These look like Crepuscular Rays to me. Let's see how NASA explains that observable reality is once again an illusion.

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/76261/crepuscular-rays-india#:~:text=When%20observed%20from%20the%20ground,the%20rays%20are%20actually%20parallel.

When observed from the ground, crepuscular rays appear to radiate outwards from the source of light due to the effects of distance and perspective. However, the rays are actually parallel.

https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/76000/76261/ISS029-E-031270_lrg.jpg

Well theis picture would suggest that those rays are paralle, even though they don't look perfectly parallel to me, but if we could imagine a closer light source to the left, would it be possible, if distance and perspective can affect the observational appearance of parallel rays, that it could also affect the observational appearance of crepuscular rays? Would there be another photograph that could suggest a closer light source?

This picture from an amateur weather balloon shows a hot spot on top of the clouds. This would suggest that the light source is local. Does NASA have another explanation as to why observable reality is yet another illusion? I can't seem to find one right now but I'll assume they do. I'm happy to hear it if anyone can find it.

What other information can we get from NASA about the sun and it's rays?

This is an illustration of what happens during a solar eclipse. This seems to suggest that sunrays do not run parallel. An Umbra shadow cannot be created from parallel rays. I'm sure there's an explanation.

The sun is the one star close enough to us to not be a point source. All other stars are so far away that they are diffraction limited points in all but the largest telescopes.

Diffraction limited? So the sun has diffraction. What is diffraction?

the process by which a beam of light or other system of waves is spread out as a result of passing through a narrow aperture or across an edge, typically accompanied by interference between the wave forms produced.

Maybe this is why we see the "illusion" of crepuscular ray clouds. But if the Earth is receiving parallel rays from the sun, wouldn't the entire sky experience this effect? 50% of the Earth is illuminated. Why would diffraction only occur in a small area?

So think about this. Eratoathenes should have based his assumptions off of observable reality. This would suggest the sun is local. NASA even says "when observed from the ground, crepuscular rays appear to radiate outwards from the source of light." This means that Eratoathenes would of had to ignore observable reality and randomly assume the distance of the sun and that it produces parallel rays that lead to such an accurate calculation as to only be off by less than 1%. Is he the luckiest guy ever or what.

All observable reality dictates that we live on a flat and stationary plane. Heliocentrism dictates that we believe all observable reality is an illusion. This is something you need to be taught. There's nothing you can do to verify heliocentrism. You can't go to space and see for yourself. You need to have faith that the world packaged and presented to you is reality. If you believe this reality, you will then preach to others the tenants of your faith. The world that lives the lie does not believe they are lying. The idea that a flat earth doesn't work is an idea from someone who has lost sight of the past. We used to live on a flat earth where our celestial bodies would make their journey above us like clockwork. We would make predictions based on time. The ancients did not need NASA to tell them when an eclipse would happen.

Bonus: came across this while researching.

https://stolenhistory.net/threads/crepuscular-rays-a-k-a-bulshitax-scientificus-or-how-far-is-the-sun.4364/