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 Beach Haven Gardens:
39.582341, -74.227085
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 Beach Haven Gardens ...
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.
Bass River (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bass River 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 Beach Haven Gardens to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Beach Haven Gardens and extending to:
Toms River, which is the Seat of Ocean County, lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Beach Haven Gardens to Toms River, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
Trenton, which is the State Capital of New Jersey, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 157 miles [252.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,749 miles [9,252.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,450 miles [10,380.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,328 miles [6,965.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
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>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Beach Haven Gardens) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Beach Haven Gardens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5823, Longitude: -74.2271 In this case, the coordinates for Beach Haven Gardens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Beach Haven Gardens 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 306.188 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.614 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.256 degrees.