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 Nani-chito:
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, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers included the distance from a community such as Nani-chito to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Nani-chito and extending to:
Idabel, which is the Seat of McCurtain County, lies 37 miles [59.5 km]<3> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Nani-chito to Idabel, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
Oklahoma City, which is the State Capital of Oklahoma, lies 177 miles [284.9 km] to the west northwest (WNW). 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 10 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,021 miles [1,643.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 40 days and walking would take 58 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,817 miles [10,970.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,551 miles [12,152.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,429 miles [8,737.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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<3>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Nani-chito) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Nani-chito 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 Nani-chito. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4223, Longitude: -94.6469 In this case, the coordinates for Nani-chito have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 318.701 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.244 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 313.481 degrees.