[Leica] Re: How far can you see?

[bill_clough at yahoo.com (Bill Clough)]

This is for an entirely different situation, but a 1983 copy of "The 
Mariner's Pocket Companion" includes a formula for determining the distance 
to the horizon in nautical miles. The formula is 1.14 times the square root 
of the height of your eye above the surface in feet. Hence, if you are 
standing 3,000 feet above the surface, the horizon is 62.7 naitical miles 
away.

--Bill

----- Original Message ----
From: Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin@optonline.net>
To: lug@leica-users.org
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007 11:33:47 AM
Subject: [Leica] Re: How far can you see?


On Aug 19, 2007, at 11:54 AM, Don wrote:

> Larry,
> After a rainstorn once you were west of Topeka you could see a  
> really long
> way in the fifties.  I remember in 1958 driving west to Colorado from
> Nebraska and seeing the Rockies lift off the horizon.  Then we  
> drove another
> two-three hours until we hit the foot hills.


Seeing the Rocky Mountains from Nebraska is cheating. Normally the  
curve of the earth permits a 6' tall person from seeing the ground at  
a distance of greater than 4 miles. Of course if the object is  
taller, or you are higher, the range is longer. I live 50 miles north  
of New York City but if I use binoculars and stand on the right local  
hill, and the trees are not in the way, and the sky is clear, I can  
see the tip of the Empire State Building. (Of course I can see the  
moon at night, but that doesn't count.)

If you are really interested in how far away you can see the  
mountains, check this site:

http://staff.washington.edu/skykilo/SummitView/SummitView.html

It calculates how far you can see FROM the peak of the mountain, but  
it works the other way too. You could just about see the tip of Mt.  
Everest from a distance of 300 miles. So I guess you could be right,  
sort of.

Larry Z



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