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Apparent size above horizon

In an earlier post I estimated the distance to the horizon given the radius of the planet and a height above the ground. In this post, we'll find the apparent height of an object whose base is beyond the horizon. In the diagram below, we know the radius of the planet R, our height above the ground h, the object's height H, and the distance between us and the base of the object s. We want to find θ.

RRRhHsdαβγθ
The geometry of an object's height above the horizon.

To do so, we can find α from the definition of radians:

StartLayout 1st Row 1st Column upper R normal alpha 2nd Column equals s EndLayout

γ from the definition of sine:

StartLayout 1st Row 1st Column sine normal gamma 2nd Column equals StartFraction upper R Over upper R plus h EndFraction EndLayout

d from law of cosines:

StartLayout 1st Row 1st Column d squared 2nd Column equals left-parenthesis upper R plus h right-parenthesis squared plus left-parenthesis upper R plus upper H right-parenthesis squared minus 2 left-parenthesis upper R plus h right-parenthesis left-parenthesis upper R plus upper H right-parenthesis cosine normal alpha EndLayout

and β from the law of sines:

StartLayout 1st Row 1st Column StartFraction sine normal beta Over upper R plus upper H EndFraction 2nd Column equals StartFraction sine normal alpha Over d EndFraction EndLayout

Solving these for the needed values and plugging them into θ = β - γ gives us

StartLayout 1st Row 1st Column normal theta 2nd Column equals arc sine left-parenthesis StartFraction upper R plus upper H Over d EndFraction sine normal alpha right-parenthesis minus arc sine left-parenthesis StartFraction upper R Over upper R plus h EndFraction right-parenthesis EndLayout

which has a nice enough symmetry that I won't spoil by inlining d.