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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Zero, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Zero and the surrounding area.
- 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 Zero:
- 40.983773, -93.126913
- 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 Zero
- 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 Lucas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lucas County
- Since Zero is near Monroe County and also Wayne County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Wayne 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Zero
Communities Also Named Zero ...
We found three communities that are also named Zero.
Within Iowa, the name Zero is unique.
Beyond Iowa, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Kentucky
- Hart 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 Kentucky community of Zero [Hart County].
- Mississippi
- Lauderdale County
- This Zero is located in Lauderdale County and lies 648 miles [1,042.9 km]<2> to the south southeast of the Zero that is located in Lucas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lauderdale County community of Zero.
- Montana
- Prairie County
- This Zero is located in Prairie County and lies 729 miles [1,173.2 km]<2> to the northwest of the Zero that is located in Lucas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prairie County community of Zero.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Zero ...
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.
- Bethelhem
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Bethelhem is located in Wayne County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethelhem
- Cloud
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Cloud is located in Marion County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloud
- Confidence
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Georgetown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Hocking
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Hocking is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hocking
- Indiana
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Maine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Maine is located in Appanoose County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maine
- Marysville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Promise City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Purdy
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Purdy is located in Lucas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Purdy
- Tower Station ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Tower Station is located in Monroe County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tower Station
- Walnut City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Zero 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 Zero to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Zero and extending to:
- Chariton, which is the Seat of Lucas County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Zero to Chariton, with an average speed<3> 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 49 miles [78.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 862 miles [1,387.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 34 days and walking would take 49 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,423 miles [10,336.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,170 miles [11,539 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,062 miles [8,146.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
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 Zero 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Zero) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Zero 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 Zero. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.9838, Longitude: -93.1269 In this case, the coordinates for Zero have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.126 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.434 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.544 degrees. |
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