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 Brightwood:
38.421516, -78.193613
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.
Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Brightwood
Bird Watching ...
We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found nine communities that are also named Brightwood.
Within Virginia, the name Brightwood is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of nine communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Indiana
Marion County
This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Indiana community of Brightwood [Marion County].
Maryland
Anne Arundel County
This Brightwood is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 97 miles [156.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Brightwood.
Baltimore County
This Brightwood is located in Baltimore County and lies 106 miles [170.6 km] to the northeast of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Brightwood.
Queen Anne's County
This Brightwood is located in Queen Anne's County and lies 104 miles [167.4 km] to the east northeast of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Queen Anne's County community of Brightwood.
Massachusetts
Hampden County
This Brightwood is located in Hampden County and lies 389 miles [626 km]<2> to the northeast of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hampden County community of Brightwood.
North Carolina
Guilford County
This Brightwood is located in Guilford County and lies 179 miles [288.1 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guilford County community of Brightwood.
Ohio
Tuscarawas County
This Brightwood is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 220 miles [354.1 km]<2> to the northwest of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Brightwood.
Oregon
Clackamas County
This Brightwood is located in Clackamas County and lies 2,273 miles [3,658 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clackamas County community of Brightwood.
Pennsylvania
Allegheny County
This Brightwood is located in Allegheny County and lies 164 miles [263.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Brightwood that is located in Madison County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Allegheny County community of Brightwood.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Brightwood ...
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, 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 Brightwood to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Brightwood and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 73 miles [117.5 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Brightwood to Richmond, 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 70 miles [112.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,967 miles [9,603 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,673 miles [10,739.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,549 miles [7,320.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<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 Brightwood, 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- Brightwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Brightwood 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 Brightwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4215, Longitude: -78.1936 In this case, the coordinates for Brightwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.599 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.173 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.378 degrees.