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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 Thunderbird, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Thunderbird 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 Thunderbird:
- 34.576451, -106.398907
- 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 Thunderbird
- 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 Torrance County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Torrance County
- Since Thunderbird is near Valencia County and also Socorro County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Valencia County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Socorro 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 Thunderbird
Communities Also Named Thunderbird ...
We found two communities that are also named Thunderbird.
Within New Mexico, the name Thunderbird is unique.
Beyond New Mexico, we know of two communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these two communities, one is located in the United States and the other in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Thunderbird lies 1,739 miles [2,798.6 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Thunderbird that is located in Torrance County.
- Kentucky
- Clay County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Thunderbird [Clay County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Thunderbird ...
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.
- Comanche Springs
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Comanche Springs is located in Valencia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Springs
- Glover Place
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Glover Place is located in Torrance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glover Place
- King Place
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- King Place is located in Torrance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King Place
- Martin Place
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Martin Place is located in Torrance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martin Place
- Meadow Lake
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Meadow Lake is located in Valencia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Lake
- Moorehead Place
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Moorehead Place is located in Torrance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moorehead Place
- Mountainair
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Roundtop ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Roundtop is located in Torrance County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roundtop
How Far From Thunderbird to ...
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 Thunderbird to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Thunderbird and extending to:
- Estancia, which is the Seat of Torrance County, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Thunderbird to Estancia, with an average speed<4> 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 most of a day.
- Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 80 miles [128.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,644 miles [2,645.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 65 days and walking would take 94 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,213 miles [11,608.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,972 miles [12,829.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,884 miles [9,469.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Thunderbird) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Thunderbird 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Thunderbird 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 Thunderbird. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.5765, Longitude: -106.3989 In this case, the coordinates for Thunderbird have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.98 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 325.028 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 319.143 degrees. |
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