Longest line of sight (UK)

[Scotrail314209]

As promised, here is a zoomed in version of the image I took from the Ardrossan Seafront showing the Paps of Jura.
IMAGE SHOWS THE SEA AND KINTYRE, WITH A WINDFARM AND THE PAPS OF JURA IN THE BACKGROUND.

I can also attach the non zoomed in version if anyone is interested.

 

[nlogax]

As promised, here is a zoomed in version of the image I took from the Ardrossan Seafront showing the Paps of Jura.

Oh, that's great!

 

[Scotrail314209]

Oh, that's great!

Thank you muchly. I was impressed myself with how good the zoom on my computer was.

If anyone could identify the wind farm in front of it, I'd be grateful.

 

[Cowley]

As promised, here is a zoomed in version of the image I took from the Ardrossan Seafront showing the Paps of Jura.View attachment 88411
IMAGE SHOWS THE SEA AND KINTYRE, WITH A WINDFARM AND THE PAPS OF JURA IN THE BACKGROUND.

I can also attach the non zoomed in version if anyone is interested.

Beautiful.

 

[nlogax]

Thank you muchly. I was impressed myself with how good the zoom on my computer was.

If anyone could identify the wind farm in front of it, I'd be grateful.

My guess is Freasdail Wind Farm. Google Maps doesn't really show it clearly as it's only relatively recently been completed. I've plonked a pin on the rough location and it seems to check out against your photo.

 

[Scotrail314209]

My guess is Freasdail Wind Farm. Google Maps doesn't really show it clearly as it's only relatively recently been completed. I've plonked a pin on the rough location and it seems to check out against your photo.

View attachment 88412

Thank you very much! Just goes to the show the power of a zoom. Maybe I should invest in a longer lens and take a picture from the same location... hmmm

 

[route101]

Thats great, I think of may of seen the Paps of Jura before from around there. Id love to get over to that side.

 

[Altrincham]

The lighting here today is astonishing, you can see Jura extremely clear today. At least 80 miles I think

What a great sight that must be.

I always like this time of year for this subject because the weather conditions lend themselves to creating really clear air, which is just great for long lines of sight. 80 miles is an incredible distance.

Id love to see that, seen the Paps of Jura a fair few times when I've come into Glasgow Airport.

A Line of sight that I noticed a few weeks ago was seeing traffic lights from 5 miles away. From Edinburgh Road in Balarnark I could clearly see a set of traffic lights on red near Cathkin. Junction of Greenlees road and East Kilbride Road A749.

Urban lines of sight fascinate me, especially at night. From one of the railway bridges in Altrincham I am always fascinated by a distant sight of street lights climbing (in a straight line) up a steep road somewhere around Ashton-under-Lyne or Oldham. It’s not clearly visible all the time, only on cold nights, but it’s somewhere in the region of 18 miles away.

I’d love to climb Winter Hill on a really clear night and take in the expanse of the Greater Manchester and Liverpool conurbations.

As promised, here is a zoomed in version of the image I took from the Ardrossan Seafront showing the Paps of Jura.

I can also attach the non zoomed in version if anyone is interested.

That’s a brilliant shot. It’d be great to see the non zoomed-in version if you have it.


***Edited 13-Jan-2021***

This is an incredible sight taken today (13th Jan) and captured by Niall O'Carroll (Hiking Ireland).

Snowdon, seen from Howth Summit on the outskirts of Dublin. The snow covering Snowdonia makes it particularly dramatic and sharp.

 

[Scotrail314209]

What a great sight that must be.

I always like this time of year for this subject because the weather conditions lend themselves to creating really clear air, which is just great for long lines of sight. 80 miles is an incredible distance.


Urban lines of sight fascinate me, especially at night. From one of the railway bridges in Altrincham I am always fascinated by a distant sight of street lights climbing (in a straight line) up a steep road somewhere around Ashton-under-Lyne or Oldham. It’s not clearly visible all the time, only on cold nights, but it’s somewhere in the region of 18 miles away.

I’d love to climb Winter Hill on a really clear night and take in the expanse of the Greater Manchester and Liverpool conurbations.




That’s a brilliant shot. It’d be great to see the non zoomed-in version if you have it.


***Edited 13-Jan-2021***

This is an incredible sight taken today (13th Jan) and captured by Niall O'Carroll (Hiking Ireland).

Snowdon, seen from Howth Summit on the outskirts of Dublin. The snow covering Snowdonia makes it particularly dramatic and sharp.

Thats absolutely insane. It makes it look like it's only a few miles away.

 

[Lloyds siding]

Thats absolutely insane. It makes it look like it's only a few miles away.

I can vouch for how dramatically beautiful (and close) Snowdonia looks at the moment. I'm seeing it from Merseyside.

 

[Altrincham]

Thats absolutely insane. It makes it look like it's only a few miles away.

It’s incredible isn’t it!?! Perfect weather conditions by all account too.

The covering of snow seems to give greater definition of the land mass, highlighting how illuminating the snow can be. I’m fascinated by the conditions that make sighting like this possible. (Plus I think having a massive expanse of sea in-between also has something to do with it too).

I can vouch for how dramatically beautiful (and close) Snowdonia looks at the moment. I'm seeing it from Merseyside.

That sounds wonderful. One of my favourite walks at this time of year is along Crosby beach, especially on a crisp and cold sunny day and seeing the far-off sight of the northern parts of Snowdonia. (Alas, not a walk I’ll be able to do anytime soon). In reverse, I read somewhere a while back of someone who reported seeing the skyline of Liverpool city centre from the top of Snowdon (through binoculars). That would be a great thing to spot from up there.

The only time I’ve been up Snowdon was July and warm hazy cloud prevented any sort of view to the east. At best I was able to see Mersey-bound ships waiting in the Lynas anchorage just off Anglesey. That was a great sight.

 

[Bedpan]

What a great sight that must be.

I always like this time of year for this subject because the weather conditions lend themselves to creating really clear air, which is just great for long lines of sight. 80 miles is an incredible distance.


Urban lines of sight fascinate me, especially at night. From one of the railway bridges in Altrincham I am always fascinated by a distant sight of street lights climbing (in a straight line) up a steep road somewhere around Ashton-under-Lyne or Oldham. It’s not clearly visible all the time, only on cold nights, but it’s somewhere in the region of 18 miles away.

I’d love to climb Winter Hill on a really clear night and take in the expanse of the Greater Manchester and Liverpool conurbations.




That’s a brilliant shot. It’d be great to see the non zoomed-in version if you have it.


***Edited 13-Jan-2021***

This is an incredible sight taken today (13th Jan) and captured by Niall O'Carroll (Hiking Ireland).

Snowdon, seen from Howth Summit on the outskirts of Dublin. The snow covering Snowdonia makes it particularly dramatic and sharp.

What I particularly like about of these photos is that you appear to be able to see the curvature of the Earth: the horizon on the sea looks substantially closer than the land beyond. In fact it would be interesting to know how much land is hidden by the horizon. I'd probably have known how to work it out when I was at school, but wouldn't have a clue now.

 

[najaB]

In fact it would be interesting to know how much land is hidden by the horizon.

None. The Earth is flat.

Just joking - there are calculators that will work it out for you - for example, these two are quite often used in the debunking community.

• https://dizzib.github.io/earth/curve-calc/?d0=30&h0=10&unit=imperial
• http://walter.bislins.ch/bloge/index.asp?page=Advanced+Earth+Curvature+Calculator

 

[Bedpan]

None. The Earth is flat.

Just joking - there are calculators that will work it out for you - for example, these two are quite often used in the debunking community.

• https://dizzib.github.io/earth/curve-calc/?d0=30&h0=10&unit=imperial
• http://walter.bislins.ch/bloge/index.asp?page=Advanced+Earth+Curvature+Calculator

Thanks! Interested to see the links. The amount below the horizon is considerably more than I would have expected.

The other thing I learnt today is that you can fuzz our part of posts containing spoilers, so thanks for that too.

 

[najaB]

The amount below the horizon is considerably more than I would have expected.

Keep in mind that atmospheric conditions can bring a lot of things back up from beyond the curve.

 

[Lloyds siding]

It’s incredible isn’t it!?! Perfect weather conditions by all account too.

The covering of snow seems to give greater definition of the land mass, highlighting how illuminating the snow can be. I’m fascinated by the conditions that make sighting like this possible. (Plus I think having a massive expanse of sea in-between also has something to do with it too).


That sounds wonderful. One of my favourite walks at this time of year is along Crosby beach, especially on a crisp and cold sunny day and seeing the far-off sight of the northern parts of Snowdonia. (Alas, not a walk I’ll be able to do anytime soon). In reverse, I read somewhere a while back of someone who reported seeing the skyline of Liverpool city centre from the top of Snowdon (through binoculars). That would be a great thing to spot from up there.

The only time I’ve been up Snowdon was July and warm hazy cloud prevented any sort of view to the east. At best I was able to see Mersey-bound ships waiting in the Lynas anchorage just off Anglesey. That was a great sight.

Yes, my viewpoint for Snowdonia was Crosby beach...which I can go to whenever I want (for an hour anyway), because it's at the end of my road.
I've never been able to see further than the Menai Straits from the top of Snowdon! And that was a brief glimpse as the clouds parted.

 

[Scotrail314209]

If there wasn't restrictions right now, I'd be going out trying to capture different viewpoints as the weather is absolutely outstanding for it all.

 

[GusB]

The covering of snow seems to give greater definition of the land mass, highlighting how illuminating the snow can be. I’m fascinated by the conditions that make sighting like this possible. (Plus I think having a massive expanse of sea in-between also has something to do with it too).

I live on the Moray Firth coast, and the view can certainly change from day to day. The hills in the north can certainly look bigger with certain atmospheric conditions, and the addition of snow does make a huge difference.

 

[Bedpan]

A bit off topic as the thread is relates to the UK, but here are a couple of pictures I took a few years ago of Mount Baker in Washington State, USA from Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. I've just measured the distance on Google Earth and it's just over 70 miles. It's not at all uncommon to be able to see Mount baker from Vancouver but you only ever see the top of it. I always assumed that it was the air was clearer at higher altitudes, but based on comments above I'm now wondering whether the presence of snow is what makes the difference. I wonder if maybe you can see more of it in winter when the snow line is lower.

 

[najaB]

I always assumed that it was the air was clearer at higher altitudes, but based on comments above I'm now wondering whether the presence of snow is what makes the difference.

Cold air refracts light differently to warm, and tends to be clearer too.

 

[Altrincham]

Yes, my viewpoint for Snowdonia was Crosby beach...which I can go to whenever I want (for an hour anyway), because it's at the end of my road.
I've never been able to see further than the Menai Straits from the top of Snowdon! And that was a brief glimpse as the clouds parted.

I’ve been fortunate to see Anglesey laid out splendidly from the top of Snowdon, clear enough to see ships in the Irish Sea and ferries docked at Holyhead. But nothing as clear as this: http://viewfinderpanoramas.org/gallery/gb/SNOWDON-SCOTLAND.jpeg

If there wasn't restrictions right now, I'd be going out trying to capture different viewpoints as the weather is absolutely outstanding for it all.

Me too. The clear weather conditions at this time of year are great for lines of sight near and far. (January is usually great for clear air but this bizarre current wet weather is putting paid to that).

I live on the Moray Firth coast, and the view can certainly change from day to day. The hills in the north can certainly look bigger with certain atmospheric conditions, and the addition of snow does make a huge difference.

Observing the atmospheric conditions at the coast fascinates me. I find the same inland too when hills are visible from an elevated position near me. It’s incredible how distant hills can be as dark and sharp against the sky in the morning, and then hazy and almost impossible to see in the afternoon. I see something similar with the western Pennines.

A bit off topic as the thread is relates to the UK, but here are a couple of pictures I took a few years ago of Mount Baker in Washington State, USA from Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. I've just measured the distance on Google Earth and it's just over 70 miles. It's not at all uncommon to be able to see Mount baker from Vancouver but you only ever see the top of it. I always assumed that it was the air was clearer at higher altitudes, but based on comments above I'm now wondering whether the presence of snow is what makes the difference. I wonder if maybe you can see more of it in winter when the snow line is lower.View attachment 88941View attachment 88942

Those are great photos. I’ve been up Grouse Mountain and it was quite drizzly so this is great to see. There’s something special about seeing peaks like this, but just made visible with a hint of setting or rising sun.

 

[DelW]

A bit off topic as the thread is relates to the UK, but here are a couple of pictures I took a few years ago of Mount Baker in Washington State, USA from Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. I've just measured the distance on Google Earth and it's just over 70 miles. It's not at all uncommon to be able to see Mount baker from Vancouver but you only ever see the top of it. I always assumed that it was the air was clearer at higher altitudes, but based on comments above I'm now wondering whether the presence of snow is what makes the difference. I wonder if maybe you can see more of it in winter when the snow line is lower.

In a similar vein, Mount Rainier taken from the University of Washington in northern Seattle - about 60 miles I think (subject to correction if anyone measures it more accurately). This is a crop from a portrait-aspect shot.

 

[Altrincham]

Once again, this time of year has shown how great it is for long sights of visibilty, helped along with a good sprinkling of snow.

This photo was taken last weekend from Birkdale, just outside Southport, and is looking north to Blackpool with the summits of the Lake District in clear view, including Scafell Pike. The photographer is a chap called Kevin Jackson and in this link he explains how he took this photo.

Buy a copy of View of Blackpool and The Lakes

I appreciate this isn’t astrophotography related, but a camera and 300mm lens was used. It just happened to be daytime and it was pointed horizontally! I recently took a landscape photo of Bl…

astrocookbook.com

 

[Scotrail314209]

Weird to think Blackpool to Southport isn't far at all, yet to get there will require a lengthy detour.

 

[Bald Rick]

Weird to think Blackpool to Southport isn't far at all, yet to get there will require a lengthy detour.

Or low tide and some big wellies (but be very careful!)

 

[najaB]

Or low tide and some big wellies (but be very careful!)

Yeah, triple check the tides!

 

[Scotrail314209]

Has there been any petitions for a bridge to link the two together? It would prove popular with tourists who can get easy access to Liverpool rather than sitting on a train for over an hour.

 

[Bald Rick]

Has there been any petitions for a bridge to link the two together? It would prove popular with tourists who can get easy access to Liverpool rather than sitting on a train for over an hour.

No, and it would be decidedly unpopular with the locals.

 

[najaB]

No, and it would be decidedly unpopular with the locals.

Much easier and cheaper to buy some hovercraft and set up a ferry service.

 

[nlogax]

Once again, this time of year has shown how great it is for long sights of visibilty, helped along with a good sprinkling of snow.

This photo was taken last weekend from Birkdale, just outside Southport, and is looking north to Blackpool with the summits of the Lake District in clear view, including Scafell Pike. The photographer is a chap called Kevin Jackson and in this link he explains how he took this photo.

Buy a copy of View of Blackpool and The Lakes

I appreciate this isn’t astrophotography related, but a camera and 300mm lens was used. It just happened to be daytime and it was pointed horizontally! I recently took a landscape photo of Bl…

astrocookbook.com

Wow. That's just stunning.