Other Side of the World

[+Sommers]

This is a ridiculas question but sometimes i wonder whats the furthest away ic ould be from here on this planet. If i were to change the "N" to an "S" and the "W" to an"E" would it be the coordinates of whats directly on the the otherside of the Earth...seems obvious but is it?

[+cache_test_dummies]

If i were to change the "N" to an "S" and the "W" to an"E" would it be the coordinates of whats directly on the the otherside of the Earth...seems obvious but is it?

Swapping N with S and W with E won't give you the location on the other side of the globe furthest from you, at least for most spots on the planet.

 

You can see why this doesn't work if you consider the location on the equator off the west coast of Africa at the prime meridian (coordinates N 00 00.000 W 00.000). Do the N-S, W-E swap, and you end up in the same place. Move a mile to the northwest of this spot, do the N-S, W-E swap, and you end up a mile to the southeast of this spot.

 

edit: wording

Edited November 29, 2006 by cache_test_dummies

[+unicyclist]

so how is it that we tell what the exact oposite is?

(grabs shovel and runs outside)

EDIT: for horribly told joke []

Edited November 29, 2006 by unicyclist

[+sbell111]

There's an old thread that discussed antipodes, but I'm too lazy to do the simple search. Perhaps I can distract you from my laziness with a map:

 

Edited November 29, 2006 by sbell111

[+unicyclist]

I tried doing a "simple" search and brought back simply this thread.

[+Urubu]

If i were to change the "N" to an "S" and the "W" to an"E" would it be the coordinates of whats directly on the the otherside of the Earth...seems obvious but is it?

 

Almost. Swap N and S, but then do this:

• if you're at a W longitude, use E (180-your_longitude)
  
• if you're at a E longitude, use W (180-your_longitude)
  

For example, I'm in Northern Florida at approx. [N 30, W 84], so the point on the opposite side of the earth is in the Indian Ocean west of Australia, at [s 30, E (180-84) = E 96].

 

Here's an article about it

[+sbell111]

I tried doing a "simple" search and brought back simply this thread.

Here

Here

Here's the old one I was thinking of

Here

Here

Edited November 29, 2006 by sbell111

[+1stimestar]

If I change it to the opposite directions I DO get on the other side of the world. I am near the Arctic Circle, they put me near the Antarctic Circle.

[+Urubu]

If I change it to the opposite directions I DO get on the other side of the world. I am near the Arctic Circle, they put me near the Antarctic Circle.

 

Swapping E-W and N-S won't do it. It will get you pretty close if you start near a pole (your example), but it doesn't work at all elsewhere.

 

For example, [N 1, W 1] to [s 1, E 1] are both off the West coast of Africa, about 200 miles apart. The farthest point from [N 1, W 1] is [s 1, E 179].

[+two left feet]

Might make a fun puzzle cache. The last part would be: "Your final coordinates are on the opposite side of the world from these coordinates" Then let them figure out how to do the math. Of course if they read this forum they already know.

[Shiraz-mataz]

Awesome picture! I'm amazed by how little overlap there is of antipodal landmasses. The idea of placing polar opposite caches would be a challenge when almost every spot on land has water on the other side of the earth. Looks like you could find some overlap with New Zealand and Spain....

[+emurock]

There's an old thread that discussed antipodes, but I'm too lazy to do the simple search. Perhaps I can distract you from my laziness with a map:

 

Cool map, thanks.

[+orcinusorca]

"Might make a fun puzzle cache. The last part would be: "Your final coordinates are on the opposite side of the world from these coordinates" Then let them figure out how to do the math. Of course if they read this forum they already know."

 

I've been thinking about doing just that for a few weeks now. Just last night I sat down and worked out the conversion mentioned above. So just so everyone knows.....I thought of it first!!!

 

I'll probably publish such a cache as soon as I can find a suitable location. My luck, though, someone has probably already done this anyway.

[+Adventure.AS]

If I just switch longitude (West for East), leaving North latitude the same. The waypoint is in Kazakhstan.

 

Hello Borat.

[fishiam]

I'll probably publish such a cache as soon as I can find a suitable location. My luck, though, someone has probably already done this anyway.

 

Yeah, it's sorta been done already: The Far Side of the World

[+readmore]

Here's a little tool that makes finding the "other side of the world" a piece of cake.

 

http://www.ubasics.com/dighole

 

It looks like for most of the US, the other side of the world is off the coast of Australia.

[+SG-MIN]

So it is actually the south americans that have a direct route to china... perhaps we need to be looking south as we plan our defence against the red army