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 West Becket:
42.264381, -73.134802
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.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Becket ...
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.
Brush Hollow (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brush Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Rockdale Mills. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
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 community such as West Becket to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in West Becket and extending to:
Pittsfield, which is the Seat of Berkshire County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<3> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Becket to Pittsfield, with an average speed<4> 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 106 miles [170.6 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 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 309 miles [497.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,595 miles [9,004.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,305 miles [10,146.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,181 miles [6,728.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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.
<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>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- West Becket) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Becket. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.2644, Longitude: -73.1348 In this case, the coordinates for West Becket have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 West Becket 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 305.238 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.976 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.556 degrees.