February 9, 2026
Can you even see that far?
Show HN: Algorithmically Finding the Longest Line of Sight on Earth
Internet claps, Wi‑Fi tinkerers flex, skeptics yell “Atmosphere!” over world’s longest view
TLDR: A custom tool mapped the world’s longest land view at 530 km and launched a 4.5 billion‑line map. The crowd split between applause, maker flexes, and skeptics arguing that haze, buildings, and real‑world messiness make parts of it theoretical — and some local claims just plain wrong.
An algorithmic treasure hunt just crowned a champ: a 530 km line of sight from the Hindu Kush to Pik Dankova, with runners‑up in Colombia (504 km) and Russia-to-Turkey (483 km). There’s even an interactive map with 4.5 billion view lines at map.alltheviews.world. But the real show is the comments section, where the crowd split into clappers, tinkerers, and skeptics. One camp simply shouted “Claps!” — pure, happy internet energy. The makers-and-breakers brigade quickly turned it into a playground: one user joked their similar project ran on “AI‑generated JavaScript” instead of the dev‑cool stuff, throwing playful shade at the tech stack. Meanwhile, the hobby radio crowd swooned, calling the map “cool places to try Wi‑Fi long shots”, as if planning weekend signal sniping from mountaintops. Then came the buzzkill brigade: a reality check about the “pesky atmosphere” — haze, dust, humidity — that makes mega‑distance views more theory than selfie. And a local called foul on the data after the site claimed a 24.7 km city view from a garden ringed by houses, sparking the big debate: gorgeous math vs. gritty reality. The vibe: breathtaking global vistas, with a side of nerd beef and neighborly fact‑checking. Peak drama, literally and figuratively.
Key Points
- •A custom algorithm (CacheTVS) was used to evaluate global terrain visibility and find the longest line of sight on Earth.
- •The longest reported line of sight is 530 km, from the Hindu Kush to Pik Dankova.
- •Curated runners-up include Antioquia to Pico Cristobal (504 km) and Mount Elbrus to the Pontic Mountains (483 km).
- •The article notes visibility from Russia to Turkey despite no shared land border.
- •An interactive map with about 4.5 billion lines of sight is available at map.alltheviews.world.