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 Buncombe:
37.471494, -88.974593
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.
We found six communities that share the name Buncombe.
Within Illinois, the name Buncombe is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Iowa
Dubuque 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 Iowa community of Buncombe [Dubuque County].
Kentucky
Knott 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 Buncombe [Knott County].
Louisiana
Caddo Parish
This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of Buncombe [Caddo Parish].
Tennessee
Franklin County
This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Buncombe [Franklin County].
Sullivan County
This Buncombe is located in Sullivan County and lies 373 miles [600.3 km]<3> to the east of the Buncombe that is located in Johnson County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Buncombe.
Wisconsin
Lafayette 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 Wisconsin community of Buncombe [Lafayette County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Buncombe ...
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.
Cypress (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cypress have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lick Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
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 village such as Buncombe to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Buncombe and extending to:
Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 163 miles [262.3 km]<3> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Buncombe to Springfield, with an average speed<7>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 654 miles [1,052.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
The shortest distance<8> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,447 miles [10,375.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,176 miles [11,548.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,053 miles [8,132 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<11>
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 Buncombe 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>
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 Buncombe, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Buncombe) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Buncombe. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4715, Longitude: -88.9746 In this case, the coordinates for Buncombe have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>
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.
<7>
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.
<8>
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 Buncombe to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.232 degrees.
<10>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.628 degrees.
<11>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.349 degrees.