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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sigma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sigma and the surrounding area.
- 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 Sigma:
- 44.669989, -85.053606
- 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 Sigma
- 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 Kalkaska County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Kalkaska County
- Since Sigma is near Crawford County and also Missaukee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Crawford County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Missaukee 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Sigma
Communities Also Named Sigma ...
We found four communities that are also named Sigma.
Within Michigan, the name Sigma is unique.
Beyond Michigan, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Houston County
- This Sigma is located in Houston County and lies 924 miles [1,487 km]<1> to the south of the Sigma that is located in Kalkaska County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Houston County community of Sigma.
- North Carolina
- Iredell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Sigma [Iredell County].
- Virginia
- Lee County
- This Sigma is located in Lee County and lies 552 miles [888.4 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Sigma that is located in Kalkaska County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Sigma.
- Virginia Beach City
- This Sigma is located in Virginia Beach City and lies 724 miles [1,165.2 km] to the southeast of the Sigma that is located in Kalkaska County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Virginia Beach City community of Sigma.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sigma ...
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.
- Cotton
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Cotton is located in Kalkaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton
- Danish Landing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Danish Landing is located in Crawford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danish Landing
- Frederic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Houseman
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Houseman is located in Kalkaska County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houseman
- Mabel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Pioneer
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Pioneer is located in Missaukee County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
- Rapid City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Tent City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Tent City is located in Roscommon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tent City
How Far From Sigma 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 Sigma to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sigma and extending to:
- Kalkaska, which is the Seat of Kalkaska County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Lansing, which is the State Capital of Michigan, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Sigma to Lansing, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 573 miles [922.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,955 miles [9,583.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,697 miles [10,777.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,584 miles [7,377.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Sigma) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Sigma 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Sigma 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 Sigma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.6700, Longitude: -85.0536 In this case, the coordinates for Sigma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.64 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.699 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.364 degrees. |
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