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 East Charlemont:
Curious and Interesting Names Near East Charlemont ...
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.
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 included the distance from a community such as East Charlemont to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in East Charlemont and extending to:
Greenfield, which is the Seat of Franklin County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from East Charlemont to Greenfield, 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.
Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 90 miles [144.8 km] to the east (E). 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 6 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 339 miles [545.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,566 miles [8,957.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,153 miles [6,683.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
Footnotes ...
<1>
GPS Coordinates for East Charlemont: Decimal: 42.62230, -72.789816 DDMMSS: 42° 37' 20", -72° 47' 23"
<2>
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- East Charlemont) 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 East Charlemont 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 East Charlemont. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.6223, Longitude: -72.7898 In this case, the coordinates for East Charlemont have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.981 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.746 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.225 degrees.