Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Nantucket, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Nantucket and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Nantucket
- 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 Nantucket:
- 41.283182, -70.099268
- 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 Nantucket
- 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 Nantucket County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Nantucket County
- Since Nantucket is near Dukes County and also Barnstable County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Dukes County
- eBird sighting report for Barnstable 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 Nantucket ...
We found three communities that share the name Nantucket.
Within Massachusetts, the name Nantucket is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Maryland
- Nova Scotia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Nantucket ...
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.
- Fishers Landing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fishers Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishers Landing
- Fishers Landing is located in Nantucket County
- Great Neck
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Neck have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Neck
- Great Neck is located in Nantucket County
- Long Josephs Point
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Josephs Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Josephs Point
- Long Josephs Point is located in Nantucket County
- Middle Pasture ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middle Pasture have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Pasture
- Middle Pasture is located in Nantucket County
- Shallow Pond
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shallow Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shallow Pond
- Shallow Pond is located in Nantucket County
- Smooth Hummocks
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smooth Hummocks have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smooth Hummocks
- Smooth Hummocks is located in Nantucket County
- Surfside
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Town Pasture
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town Pasture have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Pasture
- Town Pasture is located in Nantucket County
- Trots Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trots Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trots Hills
- Trots Hills is located in Nantucket County
How Far From Nantucket to ...
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 Nantucket to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Nantucket and extending to:
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Nantucket to Boston, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 401 miles [645.3 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,504 miles [8,857.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,204 miles [9,984.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,082 miles [6,569.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Nantucket: www.nantucket-ma.gov/
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Nantucket) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Nantucket. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.2832, Longitude: -70.0993 |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Nantucket 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> | 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 Nantucket 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 303.57 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 298.933 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.701 degrees. |