Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Astor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Astor and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Astor
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- 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 Astor:
- 41.869987, -95.266663
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Astor
- 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 Crawford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Crawford County
- Since Astor is near Shelby County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- eBird sighting report for Carroll County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Astor ...
We found six communities that share the name Astor.
Within Iowa, the name Astor is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Astor ...
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.
- Bell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Defiance
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Gray
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gray have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Gray is located in Audubon County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 57 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gray <5>
- Irwin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irwin have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Irwin is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 308 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Irwin <5>
- Panama
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Panama have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panama
- Panama is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 206 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Panama <5>
- Poplar
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast) - Red Line
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast) - Vail
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vail have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vail
- Vail is located in Crawford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 413 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vail <5>
How Far From Astor to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Astor to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Astor and extending to:
- Denison, which is the Seat of Crawford County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Astor to Denison, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Des Moines, which is the State Capital of Iowa, lies 87 miles [140 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 978 miles [1,573.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 39 days and walking would take 56 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,450 miles [10,380.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,202 miles [11,590.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,103 miles [8,212.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Astor. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Crawford County: www.crawfordcounty.org/
The official website for State of Iowa: https://www.iowa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Astor) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Astor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.8700, Longitude: -95.2667 In this case, the coordinates for Astor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Astor 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. |
| <3> | 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 Astor, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Astor 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 319.643 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.294 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 312.451 degrees. |