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 Otis:
42.183423, -73.146773
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.
Open the Heavens-Above website centered on West Otis
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 Berkshire County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found one communities that are also named West Otis.
Within Massachusetts, the name West Otis is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, there is another community also named West Otis in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arkansas
Sevier County
This West Otis is located in Sevier County and lies 1,284 miles [2,066.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the West Otis that is located in Berkshire County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sevier County community of West Otis.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Otis ...
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 (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
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 Otis to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Otis and extending to:
Pittsfield, which is the Seat of Berkshire County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Otis to Pittsfield, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 107 miles [172.2 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 305 miles [490.8 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,598 miles [9,009.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,309 miles [10,153.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,184 miles [6,733.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Otis) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
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.
<3>
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 Otis 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 West Otis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1834, Longitude: -73.1468 In this case, the coordinates for West Otis have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.256 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.982 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.60 degrees.