07-14-2018, 10:54 PM
Paul,
"I always find that a very interesting fact, I often ask people to estimate the distance and they think its 30 miles or more!"
There's a simple calculation to figure out how far the horizon is although you'll probably need a calculator to work it out quickly:
d = 1.22 * sqrt (h)
where d = distance to the horizon in miles and h equals the height of the observer in feet. So, for someone 6 feet tall standing at sea level, the horizon is 3 miles away. Top of Mauna Kea gives roughly 145 miles and on a plane at 35,000 feet, it's around 230 miles. This doesn't include atmospheric effects such as refraction but always found it useful when figuring out what I can see, especially on flights.
"I always find that a very interesting fact, I often ask people to estimate the distance and they think its 30 miles or more!"
There's a simple calculation to figure out how far the horizon is although you'll probably need a calculator to work it out quickly:
d = 1.22 * sqrt (h)
where d = distance to the horizon in miles and h equals the height of the observer in feet. So, for someone 6 feet tall standing at sea level, the horizon is 3 miles away. Top of Mauna Kea gives roughly 145 miles and on a plane at 35,000 feet, it's around 230 miles. This doesn't include atmospheric effects such as refraction but always found it useful when figuring out what I can see, especially on flights.