The text explains the rare phenomenon, in which the azimuths of moonrise and moonset are more extreme. This situation allows us to see distant landscape features with the lunar disk beyond. Learn more about the lunar standstill and its frequency across the centuries. The changes in moonrise/moonset azimuths can give you a clue of how some Megalithic constructions have been set and how the Moon’s path across the sky would have looked like thousands of years before. Moreover, the declination of the Moon isn’t the same. It changes significantly because of the parallax.
Long-distance observations
The correct way of using QGIS Viewshed plugin
Visibility analysis constitutes great importance in many fields such as sensor deployment, decisions for placement of mobile towers for maximum coverage, military operation planning, gaming, fire monitoring towers in the forest, urban design, landscape planning, etc (Saxena, Mundra, Jigyasu, 2020) or even for location graves (Lockwood, Masters, 2021). The explanations of the current text are … Read more
The Google Earth FOV feature usage in long-distance observations
This article presents a nice feature in Google Earth, which lets on getting a telephoto view rendered from any location around the globe. Because the option is to be considered in the aspect of the long-distance observations, it’s indeed a continuation of the thread about the estimation of visibility between two artificial objects. That’s exactly … Read more
Long distance observations – definition & types
This article is about the general definition of the realm, which has been described occasionally on this website since 2017. Therefore I guess I should have done it much earlier, however better late than never. Anyhow today I would like to focus exactly on both the primary definition as well as the basic divisions of … Read more
Manual estimation of the visual range between two artificial objects – case studies
Anyone, who deals with long-distance observations knows all the most popular panorama or visibility cloak generators from the given place. Every user knows the primary malady of all these simulators – they’re based on the DEM (Digital Elevation Model) only. In practice, it means, that all the calculations are based on the pure ground with … Read more
Several important reasons why you should see the 2026 solar eclipse
It’s still quite a lot of time to the 2026 total solar eclipse event, which has been already considered by me in terms of the possibility of seeing its impact on the atmosphere when the phenomenon happens below the horizon. However, the character of this path of totality requires attention far earlier than normal, as … Read more
5 fantastic tips & tricks for the Ulrich Deuschle panorama generator
If you are interested in long-distance observations or simply panoramic views from some location, mainly mountain peaks or hills, you should have heard about the Ulrich Deuschle panorama generator. This is the web-based tool, which in 2010 successfully superseded its predecessor – Kashmir 3D software, which was based on simple digital elevation model (DEM) files … Read more
Rendering the Heywhatsthat.com horizon in Stellarium
I am very excited to announce to you a brand new tool, which has been developed just after the newest Stellarium edition was released. I mean the Stellarium version 0.2 onwards, which is the reach of new features. One of them is the possibility of loading the polygonal type of horizon, known by many of … Read more
Teleconverter 2x (TC-2001) for the 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary and other Sigma lenses
The Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM f/5 – 6.3 + teleconverter kit TC-1401 bundle wasn’t enough for me. I just wanted to see, what the world looks like through the maximum telephoto lens, affordable for many of us at once. The difference in price between the 150-600mm C (or 150-600mm S) + TC-2001 combination and … Read more
Teleconverter 1.4x (TC-1401) for the 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary and other Sigma lenses
The TC1401 teleconverter is a good magnifier for some Sigma lenses, bringing your object by 1.4x closer than Sigma focal length can for you. If you are buying the Sigma 150-600mm f/5 – 6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens, it comes quite often with it as a bundle (Pic. 1). It’s a quite good bargain … Read more
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary – a fantastic choice for distant landscape photography
My dream about a long telephoto lens finally came through. After a few weeks’s consideration, I bought the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens for my Nikon D5300 camera, which also included the TC1401 1.4x teleconverter, especially for this lens. Before I start the presentation on this teleconverter as well as the other … Read more
The aspect of light reflection in the long-distance observations
This article presents the result of the longest distance observation in my life. Because it was an effect of the light phenomenon, not widely discussed by myself so far I decided to develop this topic, because of its influence on the far realing views during some specified conditions (tick haze trapped in low-level of the […]
Visual range changes during solar eclipses
A solar eclipse is a magnificent natural phenomenon, during which the direct Sun is shadowed by the moon to darken the daytime sky (Vollmer, Shaw, 2018). In this article, I would like to draw your attention to another phenomenon, which I “discovered” accidentally during the Great American Eclipse – the visual range changes. 1. INTRODUCTION … Read more
Horizontal visibility as the main factor of long-distance observations, part 2 – contrast, human perception and weather forecast
In the 1st part of this article, I have explained the relationship between visibility and weather conditions as well as an astronomical factor and light scattering issue. Now I would like to explain the contrast phenomena and human eye perception of the view, which are also integral elements of long-distance observations. Recently the contrast issue … Read more
Horizontal visibility as the main factor of long-distance observations, part 1 – weather, astronomical and optical elements
This article is sort of a continuation of issues related to light scattering in the Earth’s atmosphere as well as haze presence. These subjects are closely associated with each other, so some stuff presented here can be pretty much similar and it will be developed on the grounds of my previous articles. This 2-partial article … Read more
The Experience at Burj Khalifa
I would like to take you on a fascinating journey to the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world since 2008. We landed in Dubai for the first time in early February 2017 during our engagement journey being our first long-haul journey at once. I was awestruck when I saw the Burj Khalifa … Read more
Hunstanton – perfect destination for summer city-break
I would like to take you on a fascinating trip to a small coastal resort in the east part of England. Because I live in Cambridge this remarkable place is close to me. This is the Hunstanton, a small resort in west Norfolk. The uniquity of this place lies in its location, Hunstanton is the … Read more
The quickest way to dehaze your photo for long distance observation purposes
The basic way to remove the haze and color casts in your picture in open-source software is by using Gimp. This program can trivially easily do it for you, however, you must spend up to a few minutes adjusting your color preferences. Basically, the Gimp software is perfect for people, who want to enhance the … Read more
Incredible view of the London Skyline from the Sky Garden.
Visiting the Sky Garden is the cheapest way to see London from the top. Recently I have written about London seen from The Shard. As we know getting into The Shard is not the cheapest experience. You have to pay 26 £ admissions per person. The Sky Garden gives you the opportunity to get a … Read more
Long lens photography from the plane – how it works?
I really like to snap remote objects and mountain outlines. Especially since I got the new telephoto lens – Nikon AF-S Nikkor 55-300mm f4.5-5.6 ED VR. Covering the distant sights from the ground is not only one option, but that may also give you a lot of positive feelings. You can also enjoy a much … Read more