The Summit

[ElaineB]

Does anyone have a photograph from the summit of Mt. Washington showing the Twin Towers? I know it could be seen as I've been there (I grew up in Conway) and seen it but no one at work believes me. Thank you!!

[Bill O]

As in the World Trade Center Twin Towers?

[SDB777]

That would have been a long way off to see the city. Never mind being able to pick out the towers.
Concord, NH to New York, NY - 251 miles/404 kilometers

Is this Twin Towers a rock formation?



Scott (light-bending, wormhole-opened) B

[Yankee]

Does anyone have a photograph from the summit of Mt. Washington showing the Twin Towers? I know it could be seen as I've been there (I grew up in Conway) and seen it but no one at work believes me. Thank you!!

The curvature of the Earth would prohibit you from seeing that far. Even on the clearest of days, the distance to the horizon from the summit is approximately 100 miles.

Google "earth curvature nomograph" and it will show you how far apart 2 objects can be and still be visible to each other. The World Trade Center Towers and Mount Washington would have to be no further than 150 miles (approx.) apart in order to be in "line of sight" with each other. Since Mt Washington is about 275 miles from NYC, there is no possible way for you could have seen see the Towers from the summit.

[John_Calif]

Let's not dismiss Elaine's question too quickly! I too have heard that until the WTC towers were destroyed the 'longest line-of-sight' in the USA was from the top of Mt Washington to the top of the World Trade Centers in NYC.

The notion of 150 miles being the maximum line-of-sight distance due to the curvature of the earth is true for two UNELEVATED points. Mt Washington and the WTC were two elevated points and, most importantly, there was nothing in between them to block the view.

It would be great to have a definitive answer to this question- and to see a photograph of the WTC from the top of Mt Washington if it does in fact exists.

[KD Talbot]

I'm thinking it is possible that they saw the John Hancock and Prudential buildings on the Boston skyline. About 150 miles +/-10. Not sure if it's possible, though, but it seems more likely to me.
KDT

[Bill O]

Let's not dismiss Elaine's question too quickly! I too have heard that until the WTC towers were destroyed the 'longest line-of-sight' in the USA was from the top of Mt Washington to the top of the World Trade Centers in NYC.

The notion of 150 miles being the maximum line-of-sight distance due to the curvature of the earth is true for two UNELEVATED points. Mt Washington and the WTC were two elevated points and, most importantly, there was nothing in between them to block the view.

It would be great to have a definitive answer to this question- and to see a photograph of the WTC from the top of Mt Washington if it does in fact exists.

Its 270 miles from Mount Washington to NYC. Its not possible to look through 270 miles of the densest part of the atmosphere. I've heard that back in the 1800's people in Utah could see up to 300 miles through the atmosphere. I've heard...and its not the 1800's anymore.

The maximum line of site is about 7 miles for two un-elevated points. 150 miles already takes into account elevation. At 270 miles you'd have to be much higher. I'll also refer you to the problem I listed above.

Lastly, Between Mount Washington and NYC are hundreds of mountain peaks.

Boston is way over the horizon from Mount Washington, you can't see anything there.

One last point. The person who asked this question has had no interaction in the board in months. We have no idea if this was a joke.

I'm gonna put the nail in the coffin here. You cannot see New York buildings from Mount Washington.

[John_Calif]

Ok, there are two concepts here and I have mixed them together due to the nature of the original posting. Sorry. Let me now be clearer:

What I actually heard was not that a person could actually SEE the World Trade Center from Mt Washington but rather that there was no obstacle (including the earth itself) along the 'straight line' from the top of Mt Washington to the top of the World Trade Center. And that this was the longest such 'straight line' in the whole US before the WTC came down.

Originally, the easiest way to express this concept was to say that:
1) If the atmosphere was not an issue and
2) The power of your telescope was sufficient
you could then see the top of the World Trade Center from the top of Mt Washington. This somehow got confused with accounts of people actually seeing it.

Any experts wish to now ring in on whether this 'topographical supposition' is true?

[Bill O]

I found a horizon calculator here.

In this case I made the eye height 7,658' (6,288' Mount Washington plus 1,368' WTC). The magic number is 118 miles.

[John_Calif]

Thanks for the analysis. I concede that whatever I heard was wrong. Too bad, it was a great piece of trivia! The facts get in the way of some really cool tidbits. Now I'm going to set out to find the actual answer to the longest theoretical line of site in the USA. (Google hasn't helped on this one.)

I do, however, DISAGREE with your figure of 118 miles. I don't think you can add the two heights together and calculate the maximum horizon as if it were for one structure or peak. I believe you have to do the calculation for each elevation separately and then add the two figures for the answer.

Using the calulator you generously provided, the maximum horizon for Mt Washington is 106.7 miles and the maximum horizon for the WTC is 49.7 miles. These add to a maximum allowable distance of about 157 miles between the two in order for there to be any possible 'unimpeded straight line' between them. I know I'm just spinning the wheel here, but if Boston is 150 miles away and the John Hancock building is really tall then maybe...