Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above
website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed
sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above,
we pass this GPS location for Covenant Life:
59.417222, -136.025000
Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Covenant Life ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
Mosquito Lake (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mosquito Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Covenant Life to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Covenant Life and extending to:
Juneau, which is the State Capital of Alaska, lies 96 miles [154.5 km]<3> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Covenant Life to Juneau, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,891 miles [4,652.6 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 6 days, a buggy would take 113 days and walking would take 165 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,112 miles [9,836.3 km] and it lies to the north (N).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,842 miles [11,011.1 km] and it lies to the north (N).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,206 miles [8,378.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>
If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<3>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Covenant Life) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Covenant Life. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 59.4172, Longitude: -136.0250 In this case, the coordinates for Covenant Life have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>
While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>
The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Covenant Life to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 352.576 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 356.089 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 336.289 degrees.