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 Orchards:
35.765152, -78.700560
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 five communities that are also named Orchards.
Within North Carolina, the name Orchards is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Illinois
Lake County
This Orchards is located in Lake County and lies 671 miles [1,079.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Orchards that is located in Wake County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lake County community of Orchards.
Maryland
Howard County
This Orchards is located in Howard County and lies 264 miles [424.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Orchards that is located in Wake County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Howard County community of Orchards.
New Jersey
Mercer County
This Orchards is located in Mercer County and lies 377 miles [606.7 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Orchards that is located in Wake County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mercer County community of Orchards.
Virginia
Roanoke County
This Orchards is located in Roanoke County and lies 126 miles [202.8 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Orchards that is located in Wake County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke County community of Orchards.
Washington
Clark County
This Orchards is located in Clark County and lies 2,361 miles [3,799.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Orchards that is located in Wake County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Orchards.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orchards ...
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 & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Orchards to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orchards 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 234 miles [376.6 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Orchards to White House, with an average speed<2>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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,103 miles [9,821.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,799 miles [10,941.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,680 miles [7,531.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Orchards) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
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.
<3>
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 Orchards 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 Orchards. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7652, Longitude: -78.7006 In this case, the coordinates for Orchards have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.987 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.217 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.502 degrees.