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 Acton:
34.469909, -118.197172
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.
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 Los Angeles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found 24 communities that share the name Acton.
Within California, the name Acton is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another 21 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 21 communities, nineteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
In addition to the above occurrences of Acton, we know of three communities located outside of the United States and Canada.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Jefferson County
This Acton is located in Jefferson County and lies 1,796 miles [2,890.4 km]<1> to the east of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Acton.
Shelby County
This Acton is located in Shelby County and lies 1,793 miles [2,885.6 km] to the east of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Shelby County community of Acton.
Florida
Polk County
This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Acton [Polk County].
Georgia
Harris County
This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Acton [Harris County].
Indiana
Marion County
This Acton is located in Marion County and lies 1,801 miles [2,898.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Acton.
Kentucky
Taylor County
This Acton is located in Taylor County and lies 1,844 miles [2,967.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Taylor County community of Acton.
Maine
York County
This Acton is located in York County and lies 2,577 miles [4,147.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the York County community of Acton.
Massachusetts
Middlesex County
This Acton is located in Middlesex County and lies 2,554 miles [4,110.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Acton.
Minnesota
Meeker County
This Acton is located in Meeker County and lies 1,440 miles [2,317.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Meeker County community of Acton.
Montana
Yellowstone County
This Acton is located in Yellowstone County and lies 935 miles [1,504.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yellowstone County community of Acton.
Nevada
Clark County
This community is historic<2> and although located in Clark County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Acton.
New Brunswick
This Acton lies 2,765 miles [4,449.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
New Jersey
Salem County
This Acton is located in Salem County and lies 2,362 miles [3,801.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salem County community of Acton.
North Carolina
Buncombe County
This Acton is located in Buncombe County and lies 2,001 miles [3,220.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Buncombe County community of Acton.
North Dakota
Walsh County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Dakota community of Acton [Walsh County].
Ohio
Marion County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Acton [Marion County].
Ontario
This Acton lies 2,120 miles [3,411.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
South Carolina
Richland County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Carolina community of Acton [Richland County].
Tennessee
McNairy County
This Acton is located in McNairy County and lies 1,681 miles [2,705.3 km]<1> to the east of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the McNairy County community of Acton.
Texas
Hood County
This Acton is located in Hood County and lies 1,187 miles [1,910.3 km]<1> to the east of the Acton that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hood County community of Acton.
Washington
Benton County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Acton [Benton County].
Communities Beyond North America ...
Northern Ireland
Distance: 5,088 miles [8,188.3 km]<1> to the north northeast
England
- Shropshire
Distance: 5,276 miles [8,490.9 km]<1> to the north northeast
- London
Distance: 5,406 miles [8,700.1 km] to the north northeast
Curious and Interesting Names Near Acton ...
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.
Alpine ‑ Historic (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alpine have been provided by the GNIS.<4> 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 Acton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Acton and extending to:
Los Angeles, which is the Seat of Los Angeles County, lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Acton to Los Angeles, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 337 miles [542.3 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,280 miles [3,669.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 89 days and walking would take 130 days.
The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,539 miles [12,132.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,308 miles [13,370.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,300 miles [10,138.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<10>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 from Point A (ie- Acton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Acton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4699, Longitude: -118.1972
<2>
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 Acton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>
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 Acton 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.
<4>
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.
<5>
An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Acton 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 336.26 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.196 degrees.
<10>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.61 degrees.