Flying west at 480 knots, a passenger watched the sun set in reverse
PTenigma · x · 2026-10-19
On SAS flight 541 from Copenhagen to Manchester, the author took off 1-2 minutes before sunset and watched the sun 'unset' — flying almost due west at 480 knots and 35,000 ft, the sun still hadn't set again an hour later.
- At 55.7°N, matching the sun requires flying west at about 902·cos(55.7°) ≈ 509 knots
- The author notes much of the effect came from gaining altitude, which drops the horizon
More from Fun
- Paper: preference models favor fluff and flattery in over 60% of cases — KordingLab · 2026-10-19
- Former games founder prototypes open-source game where players vibe code their own characters — trq212 · 2026-10-19
- AI circles joke: the T in CTO stands for Token, "Chief Tokenmaxxing Officer" — cramforce · 2026-10-19
- AI solved video editing, but 'you can't AI the aura' — jacob_posel · 2026-10-19
- Dev uses Claude to turn a WWI memoir into a playable 3D model of 1916 trench warfare — john__allard · 2026-10-19
- Three.js generative art: tracing curl noise flow lines over SDFs with genus > 0 — thespite · 2026-10-19