Let’s say that i am in washington, d.c. Facing west, how far up in the sky would i have to be to see the california coastline?
Here you go:
The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whether it intersects the relevant body's surface or not.
The true horizon is a theoretical line, which can only be observed to any degree of accuracy when it lies along a relatively smooth surface such as that of Earth's oceans. At many locations, this line is ...
Assuming DC-CA is 3,000 miles, you would need to be 974 miles high (approximately).
thank you beowulff! I appreciate your time!
cmyk
December 26, 2011, 6:54pm
4
Just to clarify, at almost 1,000 miles above the earth’s surface, you’re well above the orbit of the ISS and the shuttles traveled in. Also, this basically puts you in outterspace (or the earth’s last atmospheric layer, the exosphere).
