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 Hospital Valley:
51.847778, -176.633056
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 Hospital Valley ...
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.
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 Hospital Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Hospital Valley and extending to:
Juneau, which is the State Capital of Alaska, lies 1,696 miles [2,729.4 km]<2> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Hospital Valley to Juneau, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 97 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 67 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 4,527 miles [7,285.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 9 days, a buggy would take 177 days and walking would take 258 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,340 miles [10,203.2 km] and it lies to the north northwest (NNW).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,911 miles [11,122.2 km] and it lies to the northwest (NW).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,932 miles [9,546.6 km] and it lies to the north (N).<7>
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>
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- Hospital Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hospital Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 51.8478, Longitude: -176.6331 In this case, the coordinates for Hospital Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>
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.
<4>
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 Hospital Valley to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 26.683 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 34.187 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 6.768 degrees.