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 Rancho Dos Palmas:
33.500751, -115.830073
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.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rancho Dos Palmas ...
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.
Bombay Beach (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
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 Rancho Dos Palmas to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Rancho Dos Palmas and extending to:
Riverside, which is the Seat of Riverside County, lies 95 miles [152.9 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could drive a straight line from Rancho Dos Palmas to Riverside, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 471 miles [758 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 19 days and walking would take 27 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,176 miles [3,501.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 85 days and walking would take 124 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,543 miles [12,139.3 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 8,311 miles [13,375.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,277 miles [10,101.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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>
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.
<3>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rancho Dos Palmas) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rancho Dos Palmas. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5008, Longitude: -115.8301
<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 Rancho Dos Palmas 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 334.174 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 333.59 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 324.246 degrees.