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 Somerton:
36.568208, -76.751346
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 Somerton.
Within Virginia, the name Somerton is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arizona
Yuma County
This Somerton is located in Yuma County and lies 2,161 miles [3,477.8 km]<1> to the west.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yuma County community of Somerton.
Ohio
Belmont County
This Somerton is located in Belmont County and lies 330 miles [531.1 km]<1> to the northwest.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Belmont County community of Somerton.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia County
This Somerton is located in Philadelphia County and lies 262 miles [421.6 km]<1> to the north northeast.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Philadelphia County community of Somerton.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Somerton ...
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.
Box Elder (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Box Elder have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 Somerton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Somerton and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<1> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could drive a straight line from Somerton 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 161 miles [259.1 km] to the north (N). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,984 miles [9,630.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,678 miles [10,747.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,559 miles [7,337 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Footnotes ...
<1>
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 from Point A (ie- Somerton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Somerton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5682, Longitude: -76.7513 In this case, the coordinates for Somerton 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>
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 Somerton 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 307.852 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.04 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.469 degrees.