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 North Mullins:
34.217105, -79.257268
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 North Mullins ...
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.
Cartwheel Landing (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cartwheel Landing have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as North Mullins to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in North Mullins and extending to:
Marion, which is the Seat of Marion County, lies just to the West Southwest.
Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 102 miles [164.2 km]<3> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from North Mullins to Columbia, 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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 345 miles [555.2 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,195 miles [9,969.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,885 miles [11,080.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,769 miles [7,675 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 from Point A (ie- North Mullins) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in North Mullins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2171, Longitude: -79.2573 In this case, the coordinates for North Mullins 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 North Mullins 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 309.321 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.373 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.203 degrees.