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UpToWhere · Can you see it?

Can you see Jebel Musa, Morocco from the Rock of Gibraltar (O'Hara's Battery)?

Yes — you can

26 km line of sight toward the south-southwest (bearing -166°), computed on 30 m Copernicus terrain with Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction.

The ancient world called them the Pillars of Hercules: the Rock on one side, Jebel Musa on the other. Standing on Gibraltar's summit, another continent fills the horizon.

3D terrain view from the Rock of Gibraltar (O'Hara's Battery) toward Jebel Musa, Morocco
Straight-line distance26 km
Direction-166° south-southwest
Observer eye level372 m
Target elevation837 m
Curvature drop at the target46 m
Clearance margin+375 m

From the Rock of Gibraltar (O'Hara's Battery), at an eye level of 372 m, the sightline to Jebel Musa, Morocco runs 26 km and clears every ridge in between. Over that distance Earth's curvature drops the target 46 m below a flat-earth line — but at 837 m, it still rises above the horizon. The view is geometrically real: whether you actually get it depends on haze, not terrain.

The line on the map

Satellite map with the sightline from the Rock of Gibraltar (O'Hara's Battery) to Jebel Musa, Morocco drawn in red
The 26 km sightline over satellite imagery, drawn as the great-circle path light would follow.

The terrain profile

-0 m500 m1,000 m1,500 m sightlinethe Rock of GibraltarJebel Musa 0 km26 km1020
Elevation profile from the Rock of Gibraltar (O'Hara's Battery) to Jebel Musa, Morocco. Like every elevation profile, the vertical axis is stretched (≈5× here) — but the geometry is real: mid-path, Earth's surface genuinely stands 13 m above the straight line between the two points (the dashed arc is sea level). Light bends only slightly around that bulge, so whatever it covers stays hidden.
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Frequently asked questions

Can you see Jebel Musa, Morocco from the Rock of Gibraltar (O'Hara's Battery)?

Yes. The terrain-limited line of sight is clear across 26 km, accounting for Earth's curvature and standard atmospheric refraction. Atmospheric haze is the only thing that can hide the view.

How far is Jebel Musa, Morocco from the Rock of Gibraltar (O'Hara's Battery) in a straight line?

26 km great-circle distance, on a bearing of -166° (south-southwest).

How much does Earth's curvature hide over 26 km?

At the target's distance the curvature drop is about 46 m: anything lower than that (relative to the observer's horizon plane) is hidden behind the bulge of the Earth. Jebel Musa, Morocco is tall enough to rise above it.

How was this calculated?

UpToWhere walks the full terrain profile between the two points on 30 m-resolution Copernicus GLO-30 elevation data, applying Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction (k = 0.13) — the same physics surveyors use. You can run the same point-to-point check between any two places on Earth.

More famous sightlines

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