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 Quinn River Crossing:
41.576566, -118.435161
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 Quinn River Crossing ...
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.
Awakening ‑ Historic (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Awakening. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
Happy Creek Station (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Happy Creek Station. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
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 Quinn River Crossing to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Quinn River Crossing and extending to:
Winnemucca, which is the Seat of Humboldt County, lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Quinn River Crossing to Winnemucca, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
Carson City, which is the State Capital of Nevada, lies 180 miles [289.7 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 11 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,169 miles [3,490.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 85 days and walking would take 124 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,093 miles [11,415.1 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 7,861 miles [12,651.1 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,902 miles [9,498.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
Footnotes ...
<1>
An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Quinn River Crossing) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Quinn River Crossing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.5766, Longitude: -118.4352 In this case, the coordinates for Quinn River Crossing 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 Quinn River Crossing 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 337.26 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 337.852 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.638 degrees.