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 Alton:
38.866581, -90.208345
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 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 Saint Charles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found one communities that share the name West Alton.
Within Missouri, the name West Alton is unique.
Beyond Missouri, there is another community also named West Alton in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
New Hampshire
Belknap County
This West Alton is located in Belknap County and lies 1,030 miles [1,657.6 km]<1> to the east northeast of the West Alton that is located in Saint Charles County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belknap County community of West Alton.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Alton ...
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.
Black Jack (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Jack have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 include the distance from a city such as West Alton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Alton and extending to:
Saint Charles, which is the Seat of Saint Charles County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Alton to Saint Charles, with an average speed<4> 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 five to six hours.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 707 miles [1,137.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 41 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,425 miles [10,340 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,161 miles [11,524.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,041 miles [8,112.7 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- West Alton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Alton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8666, Longitude: -90.2083 In this case, the coordinates for West Alton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>
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.
<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 West Alton 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 316.088 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.805 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.598 degrees.