RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Luna, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Luna 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 Luna:
    • 33.818814, -108.956429
    • 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.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Luna
  • 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:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Luna ...

We found nine communities that share the name Luna.

There is one other community in New Mexico which is also named Luna.

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

  • Communities Located In New Mexico ...
    • Lincoln County
      • This Luna is located in Lincoln County and lies 186 miles [299.3 km]<1> to the east of the Luna that is located in Catron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Luna.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • DeKalb County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Luna [DeKalb County].
    • Arkansas
      • Chicot County
      • This Luna is located in Chicot County and lies 1,020 miles [1,641.5 km]<1> to the east of the Luna that is located in Catron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chicot County community of Luna.
    • Louisiana
      • Ouachita Parish
      • This Luna is located in Ouachita Parish and lies 972 miles [1,564.3 km]<1> to the east of the Luna that is located in Catron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ouachita Parish community of Luna.
    • Minnesota
      • Marshall County
      • This Luna is located in Marshall County and lies 1,177 miles [1,894.2 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Luna that is located in Catron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Luna.
    • Missouri
      • Ozark County
      • This Luna is located in Ozark County and lies 957 miles [1,540.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Luna that is located in Catron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ozark County community of Luna.
    • Tennessee
      • Marshall County
      • This Luna is located in Marshall County and lies 1,265 miles [2,035.8 km]<1> to the east of the Luna that is located in Catron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marshall County community of Luna.
    • Texas
      • Freestone County
      • This Luna is located in Freestone County and lies 756 miles [1,216.7 km]<1> to the east of the Luna that is located in Catron County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Freestone County community of Luna.
    • Washington
      • Klickitat County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Washington community of Luna [Klickitat County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Luna ...

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.

  • Alpine
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Blue
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Blue Vista
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Vista
    • Blue Vista is located in Greenlee County (AZ)
  • Gribble Place
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gribble Place have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gribble Place
    • Gribble Place is located in Catron County
  • Potato Patch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Potato Patch have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potato Patch
    • Potato Patch is located in Catron County
  • Reserve
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Spur Lake ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spur Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spur Lake
    • Spur Lake is located in Catron County
  • Whispering Pines
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines
    • Whispering Pines is located in Greenlee County (AZ)

How Far From Luna to ...

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

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

  • Reserve, which is the Seat of Catron County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Luna to Reserve, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 213 miles [342.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,799 miles [2,895.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 71 days and walking would take 103 days.
  • The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,335 miles [11,804.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,097 miles [13,030.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,018 miles [9,685 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Luna. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Luna) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Luna. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8188, Longitude: -108.9564    
<2>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Luna, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Luna could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>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.
<6>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.
<7>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 Luna to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 328.799 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 327.126 degrees.
<10>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 320.506 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024