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Horknut1 t1_j1vagxq wrote

Reply to comment by kynov in The top of the Boston skyline is just barely visible from Cape Cod by TuggieBoi420

I think you're missing some modifiers to your calculations. First, he said he's on a boat (likely "doing flips and shit"), so, depending on the size of the whale watching boat, he could be 20/30 feet off the surface of the water.

Also, isn't there a refractory situation with looking to the horizon? I thought I read under the right conditions, even at sea level, you could see buildings 50 miles off.

I mean, do you think this guy is lying?

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ahecht t1_j1vfwkt wrote

To see any of the Pru (excluding the antenna) from 51 miles, ignoring refractory stuff, you'd need to be 200ft up. That said, refraction can do some pretty weird things, Famously, when you get the temperature inversions just right, you can see Toronto from NY State.

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b1ack1323 t1_j1vgwme wrote

Does changing tides have any effect on that?

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ahecht t1_j1vhlme wrote

If you're on a boat, at low tide you'd be able to see 10 more feet of a building in Boston than you can at high tide. If you're on the shore it might be more like 20 feet. In any case, it's a pretty insignificant effect.

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sir_mrej t1_j1w2gwz wrote

> he's on a boat (likely "doing flips and shit")

This is one of the best sly references I've seen

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_Lane_ t1_j1x42uh wrote

Huh. I was thinking he was enjoy carnal knowledge with a mermaid, but yeah, could also be doing flips and shit, too.

(For real: I cannot hear anyone say they are / were on a boat without that song playing. It has both ruined actually being on boats while at the same time it made talking about being on boats awesome.)

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