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 West Gate Hills:
39.973167, -75.326577
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 West Gate Hills ...
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 that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as West Gate Hills to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in West Gate Hills and extending to:
Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<3> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from West Gate Hills to Harrisburg, with an average speed<4>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 117 miles [188.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving 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 5,780 miles [9,302 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,486 miles [10,438.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,362 miles [7,020 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- West Gate Hills) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in West Gate Hills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.9732, Longitude: -75.3266 In this case, the coordinates for West Gate Hills 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 West Gate Hills 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 306.798 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.368 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.555 degrees.