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 Bly:
33.992514, -117.494772
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 found seven communities that share the name Bly.
Within California, the name Bly is unique.
Beyond California, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Indiana
Wells County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Bly [Wells County].
Kansas
Clark County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Bly [Clark County].
Michigan
Kalamazoo County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Bly [Kalamazoo County].
Missouri
Howell County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Bly [Howell County].
North Carolina
Ashe County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Bly [Ashe County].
Oregon
Klamath County
This Bly is located in Klamath County and lies 611 miles [983.3 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Bly that is located in Riverside County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Klamath County community of Bly.
West Virginia
Gilmer County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Bly [Gilmer County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bly ...
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.
Belltown (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belltown have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Bly to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bly and extending to:
Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 386 miles [621.2 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Bly to Sacramento, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 22 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 15 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,254 miles [3,627.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 88 days and walking would take 128 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,553 miles [12,155.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,322 miles [13,393 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,304 miles [10,145.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 Bly 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.
<2>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Bly) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bly. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9925, Longitude: -117.4948 In this case, the coordinates for Bly have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 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 Bly 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 335.611 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.374 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.198 degrees.