Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Luna, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Luna and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Luna
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- 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 Luna:
- 34.446477, -85.827748
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Luna
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected DeKalb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- Since Luna is near Jackson County and also Cherokee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Luna ...
We found nine communities that share the name Luna.
Within Alabama, the name Luna is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- Catron County
- This Luna is located in Catron County and lies 1,319 miles [2,122.7 km]<1> to the west of the Luna that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Catron County community of Luna.
- Lincoln County
- This Luna is located in Lincoln County and lies 1,133 miles [1,823.4 km] to the west of the Luna that is located in DeKalb County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Luna.
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Luna ...
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.
- Bootsville
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bootsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootsville
- Bootsville is located in DeKalb County
- Guest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guest
- Guest is located in DeKalb County
- Hughes Mill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughes Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes Mill
- Hughes Mill is located in DeKalb County
- Lydia
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Peeks Corner
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peeks Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeks Corner
- Peeks Corner is located in DeKalb County
- Pine Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Pine Ridge is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Plainview
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Pleasant Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Pope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Rainsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainsville
- Rainsville is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,149 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainsville <4>
How Far From Luna to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Luna to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Luna once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Luna and extending to:
- Fort Payne, which is the Seat of DeKalb County, lies just to the East.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 145 miles [233.4 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Luna to Montgomery, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 575 miles [925.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,467 miles [10,407.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,176 miles [11,548.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,053 miles [8,132 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for DeKalb County: www.dekalbcountyal.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Luna) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Luna. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4465, Longitude: -85.8277 In this case, the coordinates for Luna have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Luna could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Luna, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Luna to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.141 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.798 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.696 degrees. |