3 ms·
> On spherical earth the horizon on average is a little over three miles away. I read (long time ago) that the horizon is 29km on a seashore. In other words if
by huhtenberg 15y ago
> On spherical earth the horizon on average is a little over three miles away.
I read (long time ago) that the horizon is 29km on a seashore. In other words if you see a ship disappear on a horizon, it was 29km away. And so his 3mi vs my 29km is a bit of a discrepancy. Can anyone set things straight here?
- cemery 15y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon#Distance_to_the_horizon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon#Distance_to_the_horizon Wikipedia says 3.1 miles.
- huhtenberg 15y agoHmm, indeed. Even with the atmospheric refraction included.
- Symmetry 15y agoThe "distance to the horizon" is strongly dependant on how high the viewer is and how tall the object being observed is. If you put your eyes pretty much down to the ground the horizon will be pretty darn close. If you are standing 6 feet tall the horizon will be 3 miles away. If you're standing a bit higher up on the shore and looking at the top of a tall ship then 29 kilometers is easy to achieve. I'm providing a link to a handy calculator. You have to add the results from both the height of the viewer and the viewed object. http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/hdist.htm
- Luc 15y agoAs a point of reference - the cliffs of Dover can be seen from Calais on a good day, and that's a distance of 34 km (21 miles). Wikipedia gives the max. elevation at Calais as 18m, and 107m at the White Cliffs, so that works out nicely (though the calculations would be a bit more involved than what the calculator you link to allows).