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 Dunlop:
37.269594, -77.403872
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 Dunlop.
Within Virginia, the name Dunlop is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in Canada.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Manitoba
This Dunlop lies 1,572 miles [2,529.9 km]<1> to the north northwest.
New Brunswick
This Dunlop lies 931 miles [1,498.3 km]<1> to the northeast.
Ontario
This Dunlop lies 502 miles [807.9 km]<1> to the north northwest.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dunlop ...
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.
Camelot (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Camelot have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
Screamersville ‑ Historic (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Screamersville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
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 Dunlop to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dunlop and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Dunlop to Richmond, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 114 miles [183.5 km] to the north (N). 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 shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,982 miles [9,627.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,681 miles [10,752 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,560 miles [7,338.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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- Dunlop) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dunlop. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2696, Longitude: -77.4039 In this case, the coordinates for Dunlop have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<2>
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.
<3>
An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 Dunlop 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 308.192 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.535 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.473 degrees.