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 Churchill Downs:
35.754041, -78.784728
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 one communities that share the name Churchill Downs.
Within North Carolina, the name Churchill Downs is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, there is another community also named Churchill Downs in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Mobile County
This Churchill Downs is located in Mobile County and lies 647 miles [1,041.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Churchill Downs that is located in Wake County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mobile County community of Churchill Downs.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Churchill Downs ...
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.
Cedar Creek (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek 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 community such as Churchill Downs to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Churchill Downs and extending to:
Raleigh, which is the Seat of Wake County, lies just to the East Northeast.
Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies just to the east northeast (ENE).
The White House (Washington, DC) is 237 miles [381.4 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Churchill Downs to White House, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,108 miles [9,829.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,803 miles [10,948.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,684 miles [7,538.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Churchill Downs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Churchill Downs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7540, Longitude: -78.7847 In this case, the coordinates for Churchill Downs 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 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 Churchill Downs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.035 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.271 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.539 degrees.