Is Cyprus visible from Lebanon?

Upvote:4

The closest point of Cyprus from that location is about 200 km. The furthest point is about 350 km.

Ignoring the effect of atmospheric refraction, to see something at see level 200 km away you need to be at an altitude of at least 3138 m, quite a bit higher than you were. To see something at sea level 350 km away you would need to be at an altitude of at least 9611 m.

Two things help:

  • mount Olympus has an elevation of 1952 m, and stands 293 km away from your location. It would be visible up to 320 km away, but that would mean that from your location, you would just have the very top of the mount main visible and nothing else.
  • Most importantly, atmospheric refraction “curves” the path light can take which means you can, in the right circumstances, see further than if light travelled only in a straight path.

However, atmospheric refraction depends on temperature gradients (the difference in temperatures of different air layers).

In standard conditions this increases the distance to the horizon by about 8%. This is still not enough to see any part of Cyprus at sea level from your altitude (you would be able to see up to 175 km away). You can still see the top of mountains, a bit more than without refraction.

There are then two possibilities:

  • atmospheric conditions were more favorable and “bent” light more than usual, so you could see further
  • You actually can’t see anything from Cyprus but the very top of mountains.

It’s very difficult to identify anything in your pictures. Honestly it looks more like clouds close to the horizon than anything else, especially when you consider that on your uncropped picture that dark irregular part extends on both sides a lot further, and the lighter band beneath it.

More post

Search Posts

Related post