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 Hilldale Colony:
48.800004, -109.780200
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.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Hilldale Colony ...
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.
Beaver Creek (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 Hilldale Colony to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Hilldale Colony and extending to:
Havre, which is the Seat of Hill County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<4> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Hilldale Colony to Havre, with an average speed<5> 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.
Helena, which is the State Capital of Montana, lies 184 miles [296.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,751 miles [2,818 km] to the east (E). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 69 days and walking would take 100 days.
The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,462 miles [10,399.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,230 miles [11,635.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,251 miles [8,450.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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.
<2>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>
If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<4>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Hilldale Colony) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hilldale Colony. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 48.8000, Longitude: -109.7802 In this case, the coordinates for Hilldale Colony have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
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.
<6>
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 Hilldale Colony to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 330.767 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 330.859 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.556 degrees.