Does an airplane flying at high altitude still cast a shadow on the earth?

Question

I was just asking myself, is there an actual shadow visible from an airplane flying at like 10,000+ feet?

Answer 1

Sort of... When an airplane flies overhead, between you and the sun, it will block out the sun, or a portion of it, depending on the airplane's size and altitude. That is the airplane's shadow.



When light strikes an object, the air molecules in the atmosphere bend and disperse the light around the object. That dispersion makes the shadow less defined the further away the object is from the surface.



You can see this if you pick up a ping pong ball from the ground at noon on a sunny day. Sitting on the ground, the ball casts a well defined shadow. As you lift the ball from the ground, the shadow becomes less and less distinct due to the diffusion of the light, to the point that it all but disappears at some height.



An airplane is the same... as the airplane climbs, its shadow "exists", but is so diffused that it may not be noticeable, and in any event is too far from the airplane to be seen from it.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Like Jimmbo said, yes and no. Diffusion probably makes it so you can't see it. For example, being able to look down from altitude and note your own shadow. But it you were to have one pass directly overhead, it's possible the sun would be blocked momentarily.

Answer 4

It's possible.



Sometimes the straight line from the sun to the earth via the aircraft misses the earth completely so although the shadow exists there is nowhere for it to be seen.



Assuming it strikes the ground it could, but probably won't, be seen as it will be very poorly defined.



Ian M

Answer 5

Short answer, yes.



russ