Distance between satallites.

land butcher · Post by **land butcher** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:49 pm

If you are in the middle of the ocean and there is a satellite on the west horizon and one on the east horizon how far apart are they?

I gave the person who asked a answer but they want verification.

Double_Proportion · Post by **Double_Proportion** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:11 pm

If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it does it make a sound?

Jim Frame · Post by **Jim Frame** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:43 pm

If you are in the middle of the ocean and there is a satellite on the west horizon and one on the east horizon how far apart are they?

It depends on the height of the SV orbit. If you're talking about GPS satellites, and your eyes are at water level at the equator with a calm sea, and ignoring atmospheric refraction, I get about 51,600 km between SVs.

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LS_8750 · Post by **LS_8750** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 6:57 am

L=r*theta(radians)

If you know the diameter of the earth you are in good shape. I would estimate the horizon being about 50 miles each direction and then estimate the altitude of the satellites enough to get a theta value and sound pretty convincing to a layperson.

Chances are your answer would be surprisingly close enough, within a hundred miles or so, and you would also be suprised at how close the satellites are together...

Double_Proportion · Post by **Double_Proportion** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:12 pm

Out of morbid curiosity, what is the answer you gave to the person who asked you Land Butcher?

Jim Frame · Post by **Jim Frame** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:35 pm

Another variable I didn't explicitly mention but specified in my answer above: your height above the ocean. The higher you are, the farther to your horizon, and thus the farther to the SVs.

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land butcher · Post by **land butcher** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:48 am

I told him the satellites were probably about 50 miles up and his field of view was probably about 170 deg and using the radius of the earth do the math.

Training CEs again LOL