seeing the sun rise in the west

With today's technology or technology expected soon would it be
possible for anyone staying within 100 miles of where the equator
crosses the surface of the Earth to see the Sun rise in the west and
set in the east? What would be necessary in order to do so?
Has anyone ever done so? I think it would be a real hoot to do so
because my father seemed to think it was impossible anywhere on
Earth.. To bad he could not have been "dragooned" into doing so

"john0714" wrote in message ups.com...
With today's technology or technology expected soon would it be
possible for anyone staying within 100 miles of where the equator
crosses the surface of the Earth to see the Sun rise in the west and
set in the east?

Yes.

What would be necessary in order to do so?

Fly a plane toward the west faster than the Earth's circumference
divided by 24 hours.

Has anyone ever done so?

Concorde used to fly London to New York (5 time zones) in 3 hours.
Take off at dawn, the sun would set in the east, then dawn would arrive
2 hours after landing in New York. I doubt anyone would bother, though,
who wants to get out of bed that early just to see the sun go down
after it came up?


I think it would be a real hoot to do so
because my father seemed to think it was impossible anywhere on
Earth.. To bad he could not have been "dragooned" into doing so

Concorde has been discontinued, so your father can hoot.

"john0714" wrote in message
ups.com...
With today's technology or technology expected soon would it be
possible for anyone staying within 100 miles of where the equator
crosses the surface of the Earth to see the Sun rise in the west and
set in the east? What would be necessary in order to do so?
Has anyone ever done so? I think it would be a real hoot to do so
because my father seemed to think it was impossible anywhere on
Earth.. To bad he could not have been "dragooned" into doing so


This sort of has the flavor of a homework question.

What's the maximum angular velocity of the Sun
across the sky at the equator? At what time of
year does this occur? What's the necessary speed
of a ground-level vehicle that would match the
Sun's progress across the sky (i.e. keep the Sun
stationary with respect to the observer)? Is there
a type of vehicle that has the necessary speed and
can go a bit faster?

In article . com,
john0714 wrote:

With today's technology or technology expected soon would it be
possible for anyone staying within 100 miles of where the equator
crosses the surface of the Earth to see the Sun rise in the west and
set in the east? What would be necessary in order to do so?
Has anyone ever done so? I think it would be a real hoot to do so
because my father seemed to think it was impossible anywhere on
Earth.. To bad he could not have been "dragooned" into doing so

It could have been done, by e.g flying the Concorde above the equator
towards the west, since the Concorde flew at an altitude below
100 miles. Astronauts could not do it though, since they orbit
at an altitude above 100 miles.

You could even do it at the ground. There are two different ways
to accomplish this:

1. Rise quickly: stay near some beach with water towards the west all
the way to the horizon. Make sure you have some stars right near you
which allow you to climb some 30-40 feet. Wait until the last trace
of the Sun vanishes below the horizon in the west, then rush up on
those stars as fast as you can. You will then be able to see the Sun
for another 10 or 20 seconds, i.e. you will have created your own
temporary sunrise. You could also ride an airplane which started at
sunset, then you'd even be able to see all of the Sun rise above the
horizon. I actually did this myself once: I travelled from Stockholm
to Kiruna (both in Sweden) in late July, and the plane started some 20
minutes after sunset in Stockholm. Soon all of the Sun was visible
above the horizon, and during the trip the Sun "rose" and "set"
multiple times! The Sun was seen towards the northwest rather than the
west though....

2. Near the pole: travel to the North Pole in september, then await
the sunset at the September equinox. Step away from the North Pole
some 30 feet or so, then turn towards the pole. Now you have north
in fromt of you, and west towards the left. Walk around the pole,
always turning towards the pole, until you have the Sun towards
your left. You have now moved your west so it points at the
setting Sun. Of course, this could also be done at the South Pole,
although west will then be to your right when you turn towards the
south, i.e. towards the South Pole.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: http://stjarnhimlen.se/

On Apr 15, 4:12�pm, (Paul Schlyter) wrote:
In article . com,

john0714 wrote:
With today's technology or technology expected soon would it be
possible for anyone staying within 100 miles of where the equator
crosses the surface of the Earth to see the Sun rise in the west and
set in the east? What would be necessary in order to do so?
Has anyone ever done so? I think it would be a real hoot to do so
because my father seemed to think it was impossible anywhere on
Earth.. To bad he could not have been "dragooned" into doing so

It could have been done, by e.g flying the Concorde above the equator
towards the west, since the Concorde flew at an altitude below
100 miles. *Astronauts could not do it though, since they orbit
at an altitude above 100 miles.

You could even do it at the ground. *There are two different ways
to accomplish this:

1. Rise quickly: stay near some beach with water towards the west all
the way to the horizon. *Make sure you have some stars right near you
which allow you to climb some 30-40 feet. *Wait until the last trace
of the Sun vanishes below the horizon in the west, then rush up on
those stars as fast as you can. *You will then be able to see the Sun
for another 10 or 20 seconds, i.e. you will have created your own
temporary sunrise. *You could also ride an airplane which started at
sunset, then you'd even be able to see all of the Sun rise above the
horizon. *I actually did this myself once: I travelled from Stockholm
to Kiruna (both in Sweden) in late July, and the plane started some 20
minutes after sunset in Stockholm. *Soon all of the Sun was visible
above the horizon, and during the trip the Sun "rose" and "set"
multiple times! The Sun was seen towards the northwest rather than the
west though....

2. Near the pole: travel to the North Pole in september, then await
the sunset at the September equinox. *Step away from the North Pole
some 30 feet or so, then turn towards the pole. *Now you have north
in fromt of you, and west towards the left. *Walk around the pole,
always turning towards the pole, until you have the Sun towards
your left. *You have now moved your west so it points at the
setting Sun. *Of course, this could also be done at the South Pole,
although west will then be to your right when you turn towards the
south, i.e. towards the South Pole.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, *Grev Turegatan 40, *SE-114 38 Stockholm, *SWEDEN
e-mail: *pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: * *http://stjarnhimlen.se/



I confess, I suspected if one flew around the earth westwards at least
twice non-stop even at the equator at a ground speed of 2,000 MPH+
one would have a pretty decent chance of seeing the sun rise in the
west and set in the east. I just wondered if any plane currently still
in existence could go even the minimum, say in the tropics, to do so
out of the tropics seems to me almost like cheating, like saying you
went around the world if you never crosed the eqautor. (If I ever make
it from Adelaide, Australia west to Athens, Greece, I can say I went
around the world without cheating.) And I suspect such plane if it
exists is most lilely reserved for military missions.

There is a scientific reason, IIRC, why astronauts never go westwards
in orbit, having to do with eficiency and/or cost.