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 Renshaw:
37.354497, -88.678386
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 one communities that share the name Renshaw.
Within Illinois, the name Renshaw is unique.
Beyond Illinois, there is another community also named Renshaw in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Mississippi
Yazoo County
This Renshaw is located in Yazoo County and lies 320 miles [515 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Renshaw that is located in Pope County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yazoo County community of Renshaw.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Renshaw ...
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.
Big Bay (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Big Bay. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
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 community such as Renshaw to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Renshaw and extending to:
Golconda, which is the Seat of Pope County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Renshaw to Golconda, with an average speed<4> 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.
Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 175 miles [281.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 640 miles [1,030 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 37 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,442 miles [10,367.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,169 miles [11,537.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,046 miles [8,120.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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- Renshaw) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Renshaw. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3545, Longitude: -88.6784 In this case, the coordinates for Renshaw have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>
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.
<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 Renshaw 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 315.037 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 311.388 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.243 degrees.