π Planet Earth π Our planet
The horizon
π In short
The horizon is that faraway line where the land or sea and the sky seem to meet. If you stand on the seashore on a clear day, you'll see the horizon as a long straight line at the end of the water.
π€© Did you know?
- For someone standing at the seashore, the horizon is about 4 kilometers away.
- For someone one kilometer up, the horizon is more than 110 kilometers away.
- In cities, buildings, trees and mountains hide the horizon.
- Sailors used the horizon to measure the height of the Sun and stars and find where they were.
π Find out more
π Why can't we see further?
The Earth is round, so its surface disappears behind the curve after a certain distance. The horizon is the last point you can see before the Earth's surface vanishes behind its curve.
π The higher you go, the further you see
If you climb a mountain or fly in a plane, the horizon moves much further away, so you see much further than when you're standing on the ground.
π‘ The ship disappears from the bottom
When a ship sails away, its bottom disappears first, then its top, which shows the Earth is round.
π― Sunrise and sunset
We see the Sun rise over the horizon in the east in the morning and set below the horizon in the west in the evening, coloring the sky red and orange.
𧩠Test yourself
1 Why can't we see forever?
2 What happens to the horizon when we climb a mountain?
3 For someone standing at the seashore, the horizon is about ?? kilometers away.
4 Which picture shows βThe horizonβ?