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 Meter:
39.042292, -83.026844
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 Meter
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 Pike County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found three communities that are also named Van Meter.
Within Ohio, the name Van Meter is unique.
Beyond Ohio, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Iowa
Dallas County
This Van Meter is located in Dallas County and lies 600 miles [965.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Van Meter that is located in Pike County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dallas County community of Van Meter.
Kentucky
Fayette County
This Van Meter is located in Fayette County and lies 108 miles [173.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Van Meter that is located in Pike County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Van Meter.
Pennsylvania
Westmoreland County
This Van Meter is located in Westmoreland County and lies 190 miles [305.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Van Meter that is located in Pike County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Westmoreland County community of Van Meter.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Van Meter ...
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.
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 Van Meter to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Van Meter and extending to:
Columbus, which is the State Capital of Ohio, lies 64 miles [103 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Van Meter to Columbus, with an average speed<2> 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 about three full days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 321 miles [516.6 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,138 miles [9,878.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,858 miles [11,036.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,734 miles [7,618.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
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 from Point A (ie- Van Meter) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
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.
<3>
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 Meter 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 Meter. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0423, Longitude: -83.0268 In this case, the coordinates for Van Meter have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.506 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.579 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.255 degrees.