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 Saxonville:
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.
Camp Bob White (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
Camp Bob White is also located in Middlesex County
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 included the distance from a community such as Saxonville to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Saxonville and extending to:
Cambridge, which is the Seat of Middlesex County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Saxonville to Cambridge, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 17 miles [27.4 km] to the east (E). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 378 miles [608.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,519 miles [8,882 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,227 miles [10,021.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,103 miles [6,603.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Saxonville) 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 Saxonville 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 Saxonville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.3253, Longitude: -71.3999
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.184 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.80 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.742 degrees.