RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oklahoma >> Stephens County >> Sunray >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Sunray, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sunray 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 Sunray:
    • 34.412584, -97.965035
    • 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 Sunray
  • 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 Stephens County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stephens County
    • Since Sunray is near Jefferson County and also Cotton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cotton 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 Sunray

Communities Also Named Sunray ...

We found three communities that are also named Sunray.

Within Oklahoma, the name Sunray is unique.

Beyond Oklahoma, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Moore County
      • This Sunray is located in Moore County and lies 244 miles [392.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Sunray that is located in Stephens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Moore County community of Sunray.
    • Utah
      • Weber County
      • This Sunray is located in Weber County and lies 896 miles [1,442 km]<1> to the northwest of the Sunray that is located in Stephens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weber County community of Sunray.
    • Virginia
      • Chesapeake City
      • This Sunray is located in Chesapeake City and lies 1,218 miles [1,960.2 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sunray that is located in Stephens County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chesapeake City community of Sunray.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sunray ...

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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Empire City
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Empire City is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 889 people
  • Gas City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Gas City is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas City
  • Harrisburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Harrisburg is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Hope
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Hope is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope
  • Liberty
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Liberty is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
  • Meridian
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Meridian is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
  • Nellie
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Nellie is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nellie
  • Oil City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Oil City is located in Stephens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City

How Far From Sunray to ...

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 Sunray to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sunray and extending to:

  • Duncan, which is the Seat of Stephens County, lies just to the North.
  • Oklahoma City, which is the State Capital of Oklahoma, lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Sunray to Oklahoma City, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,196 miles [1,924.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 47 days and walking would take 68 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,940 miles [11,168.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,681 miles [12,361.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,565 miles [8,956 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sunray) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Sunray 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 Sunray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4126, Longitude: -97.9650       In this case, the coordinates for Sunray have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.93 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.852 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.008 degrees.