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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 Van Etten, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Van Etten 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 Van Etten:
- 42.197500, -76.554197
- 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 Van Etten
- 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 Chemung County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Chemung County
- Since Van Etten is near Tioga County and also Tompkins County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tioga County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tompkins 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 Van Etten
Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Etten ...
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
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Candor
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Catatonk
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Catatonk is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catatonk
- Erin
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Germany Hill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Germany Hill is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Germany Hill
- Hicks
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Hicks is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
- Horseheads
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Orchard Knoll
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Orchard Knoll is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Knoll
- Rush Run
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Rush Run is located in Chemung County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Run
- Straits Corners
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Straits Corners is located in Tioga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Straits Corners
How Far From Van Etten 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 Van Etten to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Van Etten and extending to:
- Elmira, which is the Seat of Chemung County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Van Etten to Elmira, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Albany, which is the State Capital of New York, lies 145 miles [233.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 229 miles [368.5 km] to the south (S). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,738 miles [9,234.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,456 miles [10,389.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,331 miles [6,970.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | 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- Van Etten) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Van Etten 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 Van Etten. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1975, Longitude: -76.5542 In this case, the coordinates for Van Etten have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.335 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.329 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.154 degrees. |
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