Distance to the Horizon on the Fourth of July
I had the luck to celebrate the past 4th of July with our friends in their newly acquired home just above the marina in Atlantic Highlands, NJ. The view from their backyard was absolutely breathtaking. The ambient light that appeared to blur the background made the view even more enchanting.
Here is a map that would help you identify parts of the panorama.
In the middle above the center line, across the Sandy Hook and Low bays the part of the Interstate 278 is the famous Verrazano Bride, past which there are visible Manhattan tall buildings; on the right, that's Brooklyn whose buildings seem taller, but only because of relative proximity.
The sunset was spectacular.
From the beginning (above) and to the end (below).
With the dusk, came fireworks. We were able to simultaneously see the bursts of illumination over Manhattan (that appeared just above the Verrazano bridge) and Brooklyn. (You can see these too if you click on the photo below.)
And next came the fireworks just above our heads shot from the marina below.
Next day I was downloading my 4th of July photos to my computer from the camera. In the zoomed-in version of the Verrazano bridge I noticed a short upward stick under the bridge which - to my great surprise - happened to be the Stature of Liberty.
To inquire the distance to the stature has now appeared quite natural. This can be estimated with the following map.
It is also possible to use the well known formulas for such estimates, I refer to the wikipedia. The distance is about 22 miles, Verrazano bridge being at about 2/3 of the way. Using the reversed formula it is possible to estimate how high above the marina have I been celebrating the 4th of July this year.