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 De Graff:
45.259801, -95.468509
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.
We found two communities that are also named De Graff.
Within Minnesota, the name De Graff is unique.
Beyond Minnesota, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Kansas
Butler County
This De Graff is located in Butler County and lies 507 miles [815.9 km]<1> to the south of the De Graff that is located in Swift County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Butler County community of De Graff.
Ohio
Logan County
This De Graff is located in Logan County and lies 676 miles [1,087.9 km]<1> to the east southeast of the De Graff that is located in Swift County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Logan County community of De Graff.
Curious and Interesting Names Near De Graff ...
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.
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 city such as De Graff to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in De Graff and extending to:
Benson, which is the Seat of Swift County, lies just to the West Northwest.
Saint Paul, which is the State Capital of Minnesota, lies 117 miles [188.3 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from De Graff to Saint Paul, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,038 miles [1,670.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 41 days and walking would take 59 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,036 miles [11,323.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,954 miles [7,972.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- De Graff) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 De Graff 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 De Graff. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.2598, Longitude: -95.4685 In this case, the coordinates for De Graff have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.869 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.99 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.782 degrees.