RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of New Mexico >> Lincoln County >> Capitan >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Capitan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Capitan and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • 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 Capitan:
    • 33.545533, -105.572977
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Capitan
  • Bird Watching ...
    • 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 Lincoln County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
    • Since Capitan is near Otero County, we have provided a link to its eBird sighting report:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Otero County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Capitan

Communities Also Named Capitan ...

We found two communities that are also named Capitan.

Within New Mexico, the name Capitan is unique.

Beyond New Mexico, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Santa Barbara County
      • This Capitan is located in Santa Barbara County and lies 830 miles [1,335.8 km]<1> to the west of the Capitan that is located in Lincoln County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Barbara County community of Capitan.
    • Louisiana
      • Lafayette Parish
      • This Capitan is located in Lafayette Parish and lies 832 miles [1,339 km]<1> to the east southeast of the Capitan that is located in Lincoln County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lafayette Parish community of Capitan.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Capitan ...

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.

How Far From Capitan to ...

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 village such as Capitan to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Capitan and extending to:

  • Carrizozo, which is the Seat of Lincoln County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Capitan to Carrizozo, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 148 miles [238.2 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,624 miles [2,613.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 64 days and walking would take 93 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,247 miles [11,662.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,002 miles [12,878 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,907 miles [9,506.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Capitan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Capitan 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 Capitan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5455, Longitude: -105.5730    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.218 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.01 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.777 degrees.