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 Owanka:
44.021876, -102.587512
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 one communities that are also named Owanka.
Within South Dakota, the name Owanka is unique.
Beyond South Dakota, there is another community also named Owanka in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Minnesota
Murray County
This Owanka is located in Murray County and lies 342 miles [550.4 km]<1> to the east of the Owanka that is located in Pennington County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Murray County community of Owanka.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Owanka ...
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 Owanka to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Owanka and extending to:
Rapid City, which is the Seat of Pennington County, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Owanka to Rapid City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
Pierre, which is the State Capital of South Dakota, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 1,362 miles [2,191.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 54 days and walking would take 78 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,559 miles [10,555.7 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,323 miles [11,785.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,265 miles [8,473.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Owanka) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>
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.
<4>
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 Owanka to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Owanka. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.0219, Longitude: -102.5875
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 325.044 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 323.781 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 316.036 degrees.