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 Grings Hill Estates:
40.296750, -76.012344
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.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Grings Hill Estates ...
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.
Birdland (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birdland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 include the distance from a community such as Grings Hill Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Grings Hill Estates and extending to:
Reading, which is the Seat of Berks County, lies just to the East Northeast.
Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 45 miles [72.4 km]<3> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Grings Hill Estates to Harrisburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 110 miles [177 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,795 miles [9,326.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,504 miles [10,467.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,380 miles [7,048.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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.
<2>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>
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- Grings Hill Estates) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grings Hill Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.2968, Longitude: -76.0123 In this case, the coordinates for Grings Hill Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Grings Hill Estates 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 307.178 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.849 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.716 degrees.