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 Los Altos:
33.796048, -118.125339
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.
Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Los Altos
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 Los Angeles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found two communities that are also named Los Altos.
There is one other community in California that is also named Los Altos.
Beyond California, there is another community also named Los Altos in the United States.
Communities Located In California ...
Santa Clara County
This Los Altos is located in Santa Clara County and lies 333 miles [535.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Los Altos that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of Los Altos.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Texas
Webb County
This Los Altos is located in Webb County and lies 1,193 miles [1,919.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Los Altos that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Webb County community of Los Altos.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Los Altos ...
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 & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Los Altos to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Los Altos and extending to:
Los Angeles, which is the Seat of Los Angeles County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Los Altos to Los Angeles, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 379 miles [609.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,292 miles [3,688.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 90 days and walking would take 131 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,580 miles [12,198.8 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 8,349 miles [13,436.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,336 miles [10,196.8 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Los Altos) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Los Altos to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Los Altos. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7960, Longitude: -118.1253
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.104 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 335.961 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.559 degrees.