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Has anyone calculated the distance

lilewis

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Has anyone calculated the distance (in miles) a MP2 can view on a clear day from 400' AGL?
It's hard to do comparing a photo to google earth without distinct landmarks on the horizon.

A geometric calculation of the distance would be the radius of a 360 degree pano.
Then if we double that radius, we would have the diameter.
I think it would be interesting to know how far from one side to the other that the MP2 covers.

Unfortunately, it's been much too long since I took geometry in school.
 
Has anyone calculated the distance (in miles) a MP2 can view on a clear day from 400' AGL?
It's hard to do comparing a photo to google earth without distinct landmarks on the horizon.

A geometric calculation of the distance would be the radius of a 360 degree pano.
Then if we double that radius, we would have the diameter.
I think it would be interesting to know how far from one side to the other that the MP2 covers.

Unfortunately, it's been much too long since I took geometry in school.
To the next mountain range where I live! In actual distances I have focused on the moon... approx 239,900 miles or so. o_O
 
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Has anyone calculated the distance (in miles) a MP2 can view on a clear day from 400' AGL?
It's hard to do comparing a photo to google earth without distinct landmarks on the horizon.

A geometric calculation of the distance would be the radius of a 360 degree pano.
Then if we double that radius, we would have the diameter.
I think it would be interesting to know how far from one side to the other that the MP2 covers.

Unfortunately, it's been much too long since I took geometry in school.
The distance is 24.5 miles.
You don't need geometry for this! You need Internet. Distance to the Horizon Calculator
 
The distance is 24.5 miles.
You don't need geometry for this! You need Internet. Distance to the Horizon Calculator
That calculator does not allow for both the observer and the landmark to have positive elevations. From high points here in Colorado, it's often easy to ID landmarks over 100 miles (160 km) distant.
 
That calculator does not allow for both the observer and the landmark to have positive elevations. From high points here in Colorado, it's often easy to ID landmarks over 100 miles (160 km) distant.

Wow.
 
Depends on ya age?
 
That calculator does not allow for both the observer and the landmark to have positive elevations. From high points here in Colorado, it's often easy to ID landmarks over 100 miles (160 km) distant.


From simple symmetry considerations, if the distant object is the same height as the observer it will double the visible range compared to the distance given by the simple geometric calculation referenced above. In fact it's a reasonable approximation to simply sum the two heights and them use them in that calculator to get range.
 
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In fact it's a reasonable approximation to simply sum the two heights and then use them in that calculator to get range.
Of course! Euclid still rules.

So standing on a 9000 ft hilltop (2743m) a similar hilltop 164 miles distant (265km) will be almost visible; it must be a bit higher than that to actually be visible above the horizon. And the atmosphere must be crystal clear.

Those hilltops and atmospheric conditions are common here in Colorado.
 
Of course! Euclid still rules.

So standing on a 9000 ft hilltop (2743m) a similar hilltop 164 miles distant (265km) will be almost visible; it must be a bit higher than that to actually be visible above the horizon. And the atmosphere must be crystal clear.

Those hilltops and atmospheric conditions are common here in Colorado.

Here too. I can easily see the Blanca group 130 miles north just over the Colorado border. That's 14,000 ft peaks viewed from an elevation of around 10,000 ft.
 
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The other practical issue is the clarity of the air you are looking through. “Good Visibility” is considered to be 10 miles. As any photographer will tell you, it is usually much less. Atmospheric haze diffuses the image and adds a blue cast. This can easily happen with distances under a mile. Haze filters on the camera, and post processing in programs like Lightroom can help but not cure this.
 
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The other practical issue is the clarity of the air you are looking through. “Good Visibility” is considered to be 10 miles. As any photographer will tell you, it is usually much less. Atmospheric haze diffuses the image and adds a blue cast. This can easily happen with distances under a mile. Haze filters on the camera, and post processing in programs like Lightroom can help but not cure this.
Yes indeed, atmospheric transparency is usually the limiting factor. That said, in most of the Mountain West, 10 mile visibility would be considered extremely hazy. I regularly see Pike's Peak, some 90 miles away, from a nearby low hill. On a windless day when the humidity is near-zero--which is not uncommon--visibility is often essentially unlimited.
A "haze" filter is basically just a UV filter. They help with any sensor or film (?) that is sensitive to that part of the spectrum, because UV is badly scattered by air. It shows up as haze in an image, and although it's haze your eye wouldn't see, the filter does improve the image quality. Post-processing, of course, just fiddles with the local contrast to make whatever detail is present more apparent.
 
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