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 Deckard-Y:
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.
Baker Den ‑ Historic (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers included the distance from a community such as Deckard-Y to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Deckard-Y and extending to:
Alton, which is the Seat of Oregon County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<3> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Deckard-Y to Alton, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 149 miles [239.8 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 792 miles [1,274.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 31 days and walking would take 45 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,581 miles [10,591.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,312 miles [11,767.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,190 miles [8,352.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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<3>
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- Deckard-Y) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Deckard-Y 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 Deckard-Y. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5462, Longitude: -91.2540 In this case, the coordinates for Deckard-Y have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 316.655 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.145 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.581 degrees.