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The Horizon
3 March 2025
The horizon as a concept is no mystery. It's "the apparent junction of the earth and sky," as Webster's puts it. Tell anyone to look at the horizon and they'll know just what to do.
The Horizon. Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max back triple camera at 15.7mm, f2.8, 1/963 second and ISO 50. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
But the other night the cloud formations over the Pacific Ocean made even clearer where the horizon is (which they usually obscure instead of clarify). So we grabbed the camera nearest to us and took a shot before it had a chance to reconsider.
That "apparent junction" is an important part of the definition.
The distance that junction appears from the viewer also depends on the height of the view, not just the curvature of the earth. Which would have won Columbus a lot of bar arguments without setting sail.
On the beach, that distance is about four miles. But from our hill, it's about 52 miles. And if we were on Twin Peaks, it would be about 70 miles.
We didn't get our elevation from the Exif header of our image, though. Apple is clever enough to record it as "GPSAltitudeRef: Above Sea Level." It's more accurate if less precise.
Instead, we used the iPhone's Compass app, which has no trouble estimating the elevation.
So there you have it: a clear illustration of the horizon and a way to find your elevation.