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 Old Tucson:
32.218132, -111.130098
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.
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.
Amphitheater (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amphitheater 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 Old Tucson to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Old Tucson and extending to:
Tucson, which is the Seat of Pima County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Old Tucson to Tucson, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
Phoenix, which is the State Capital of Arizona, lies 101 miles [162.5 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,957 miles [3,149.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take three full days, a buggy would take 77 days and walking would take 112 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,494 miles [12,060.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,257 miles [13,288.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,183 miles [9,950.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Tucson) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Old Tucson. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.2181, Longitude: -111.1301 In this case, the coordinates for Old Tucson 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 Old Tucson 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 330.222 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 328.686 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 321.679 degrees.