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 Natick:
41.720101, -71.491726
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 Natick.
Within Rhode Island, the name Natick is unique.
Beyond Rhode Island, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Massachusetts
Essex County
This community is historic<1> and although located in Essex County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Essex County community of Natick.
Middlesex County
This Natick is located in Middlesex County and lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<2> to the north of the Natick that is located in Kent County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of Natick.
Nebraska
Thomas County
This Natick is located in Thomas County and lies 1,482 miles [2,385 km]<2> to the west of the Natick that is located in Kent County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thomas County community of Natick.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Natick ...
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.
Anthony (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anthony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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 Natick to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Natick and extending to:
Providence, which is the State Capital of Rhode Island, lies just to the north northeast (NNE).
The White House (Washington, DC) is 350 miles [563.3 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Natick to White House, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 20 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 14 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,547 miles [8,927 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,252 miles [10,061.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,129 miles [6,645 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Natick, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>
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- Natick) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Natick. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 41.7201, Longitude: -71.4917 In this case, the coordinates for Natick have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Natick 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 304.326 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.859 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.087 degrees.