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 Downey:
39.969371, -78.876676
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.
We found five communities that share the name Downey.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Downey is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
California
Los Angeles County
This Downey is located in Los Angeles County and lies 2,187 miles [3,519.6 km]<1> to the west of the Downey that is located in Somerset County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Los Angeles County community of Downey.
Idaho
Bannock County
This Downey is located in Bannock County and lies 1,724 miles [2,774.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Downey that is located in Somerset County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bannock County community of Downey.
Illinois
Jasper County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Downey [Jasper County].
Lake County
We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Downey [Lake County].
Iowa
Cedar County
This Downey is located in Cedar County and lies 661 miles [1,063.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Downey that is located in Somerset County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cedar County community of Downey.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Downey ...
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.
Berlin (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berlin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shanksville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
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 Downey to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Downey and extending to:
Somerset, which is the Seat of Somerset County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Downey to Somerset, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 107 miles [172.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 6 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 122 miles [196.3 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,928 miles [9,540.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,642 miles [10,689.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,518 miles [7,271 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Downey) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Downey. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9694, Longitude: -78.8767 In this case, the coordinates for Downey have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>
If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Downey could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>
The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>
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.
<6>
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.
<7>
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 Downey to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.927 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.782 degrees.
<10>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.099 degrees.