qwerty_steve

You beat me to it Studiot! I was in the process of updating my post. I needed to double the figure due to the tangent of the earth. Point Lookout is still the first point to receive sunlight taking this into account.

That's a fair enough statement. I meant to say in Australia only, not the world, but my question is a little ambiguous so I'll give you that I've decided to work this out in layman's terms i.e. a rough estimation. Based on the following: http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.02/shirley3.html It appears that the curvature of the earth results in a drop of 8 inches every 1 mile. I live in Australia, so I'm more comfortable with metric which equates to 20 cm over 1.6 km Using Google Earth with the two points visible on my screen and a ruler, I have estimated that these two locations are approximately 85 km apart in LONGITUDE. So over 85km, the math equals 85 / 1.6 x 20 = 106.25 meters drop due to the earth's curvature Due to the tangent of line of sight, this figure needs to be doubled, so 212.50m So which receives light first? Mt. Warning (1,156 m or 3,793 ft) Point Lookout (1,564 m or 5,131 ft) With an elevation difference of 408 metres, even with time of year differences, Point Lookout is clearly the first point of Australia to receive sunlight each day! So there you go, a common misconception down here in oz. p.s. the other math in the link is beyond me, but close enough I think. The difference in elevation is pretty big.

It's actually Point Lookout in NSW StringJunky, not to be confused with Point Lookout in QLD. Willy Weather doesn't take into consideration the Altitude of each lookout, which is a key factor in which lookout receives sunlight first. I've never noticed 'first light' on a weather service before, thanks for the info

True Area54. I have used Google Maps to provide the following: Point Lookout:-30.488330, 152.410255 Mt. Warning: -28.398097, 153.271908 Good point regarding time of year also. P.S. I don't think I would be able to teach myself the mathematics involved at all!

Hi guys, I'm writing a guide on Australian tourist destinations and have come across the claim that Mt. Warning on Australia's east coast is the first point to be hit by sunlight each morning. Google it and you will see that many websites, news articles etc have taken this as a given. I have heard a rumor that Point Lookout in the New England National Park could actually take this title, as it is higher, but not so close to the coast by about 70km due west. Mt. Warning (1,156 m or 3,793 ft) Point Lookout (1,564 m or 5,131 ft) I'm not educated enough to calculate the curvature of the earth to determine if this is correct or indeed false. Can anyone help?