Horizon facts for kids

Horizon.

View of Earth's horizon as seen from Space Shuttle Endeavour, 2002.

The horizon (from Greek orizein, to limit) is the line that separates earth from sky. But at many places the true horizon cannot be seen as there are trees, buildings, mountains and so forth. The line is then called visible horizon.

Images for kids

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  Geometrical basis for calculating the distance to the horizon, tangent-secant theorem

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  Geometrical distance to the horizon, Pythagorean theorem

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  Maximum zenith angle for elevated observer in homogeneous spherical atmosphere

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  Geometrical horizon distance

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  A view across a 20-km-wide bay in the coast of Spain. Note the curvature of the Earth hiding the base of the buildings on the far shore.

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  A ship moving away, beyond the horizon

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  Two points on the horizon are at the intersections of the lines extending the segments representing the edges of the building in the foreground. The horizon line coincides here with the line at the top of the doors and windows.

See also

In Spanish: Horizonte para niños