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 Elam:
39.855111, -75.541036
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 three communities that share the name Elam.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Elam is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Louisiana
Franklin Parish
This Elam is located in Franklin Parish and lies 1,050 miles [1,689.8 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Elam that is located in Delaware County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin Parish community of Elam.
Texas
Dallas 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 Texas community of Elam [Dallas County].
Virginia
Prince Edward County
This Elam is located in Prince Edward County and lies 242 miles [389.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Elam that is located in Delaware County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince Edward County community of Elam.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Elam ...
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.
Beau Tree (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beau Tree have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 Elam to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Elam and extending to:
Media, which is the Seat of Delaware County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Elam to Media, with an average speed<4> 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 76 miles [122.3 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 103 miles [165.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,794 miles [9,324.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,499 miles [10,459.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,376 miles [7,042.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elam) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elam. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.8551, Longitude: -75.5410 In this case, the coordinates for Elam 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Elam 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 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 Elam to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 306.935 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.505 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.696 degrees.