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 Santa Maria:
34.131395, -118.574529
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 Santa Maria
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 five communities that are also named Santa Maria.
There is one other community in California that is also named Santa Maria.
Beyond California, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Located In California ...
Santa Barbara County
This Santa Maria is located in Santa Barbara County and lies 120 miles [193.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Santa Maria that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Barbara County community of Santa Maria.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arizona
Maricopa County
This Santa Maria is located in Maricopa County and lies 369 miles [593.8 km]<1> to the east of the Santa Maria that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Santa Maria.
Colorado
Park County
This Santa Maria is located in Park County and lies 803 miles [1,292.3 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Santa Maria that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Park County community of Santa Maria.
Florida
Santa Rosa County
This Santa Maria is located in Santa Rosa County and lies 1,853 miles [2,982.1 km]<1> to the east of the Santa Maria that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Rosa County community of Santa Maria.
Texas
Cameron County
This Santa Maria is located in Cameron County and lies 1,353 miles [2,177.4 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Santa Maria that is located in Los Angeles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cameron County community of Santa Maria.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Santa Maria ...
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.
Century City (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
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 city such as Santa Maria to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Santa Maria and extending to:
Los Angeles, which is the Seat of Los Angeles County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Santa Maria 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 6 hours.
Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 347 miles [558.4 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 2,308 miles [3,714.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 91 days and walking would take 132 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,569 miles [12,181.1 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 8,338 miles [13,418.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 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- Santa Maria) 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 Santa Maria 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 Santa Maria. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1314, Longitude: -118.5745 In this case, the coordinates for Santa Maria have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 336.526 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 336.497 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.825 degrees.