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 Oriana:
37.133757, -76.524952
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 Oriana.
Within Virginia, the name Oriana is unique.
Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Oriana in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Texas
Stonewall 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 Texas community of Oriana [Stonewall County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oriana ...
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 Oriana to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Oriana and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 57 miles [91.7 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Oriana to Richmond, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 124 miles [199.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,950 miles [9,575.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,646 miles [10,695.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,526 miles [7,283.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
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 Oriana, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oriana) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Oriana 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 Oriana. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1338, Longitude: -76.5250 In this case, the coordinates for Oriana have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.695 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.947 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.173 degrees.