Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sun, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sun and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sun
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- 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 Sun:
- 36.941772, -82.285697
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Sun
- 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 Russell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Russell County
- Since Sun is near Wise County and also Dickenson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wise County
- eBird sighting report for Dickenson County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Sun ...
We found ten communities that share the name Sun.
Within Virginia, the name Sun is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- New York
- North Carolina
- Texas
- Grayson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Sun [Grayson County].
- Jefferson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Sun [Jefferson County].
- Utah
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sun ...
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.
- Boody
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Counts
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Gravel Lick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gravel Lick have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Lick
- Gravel Lick is located in Russell County
- Hazel
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - John
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Lonesome ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Rural
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Temple Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Temple Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hill
- Temple Hill is located in Russell County
- Virginia City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia City
- Virginia City is located in Wise County
How Far From Sun to ...
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 Sun to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sun and extending to:
- Lebanon, which is the Seat of Russell County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sun to Lebanon, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 269 miles [432.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 316 miles [508.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,204 miles [9,984.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,914 miles [11,127 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,790 miles [7,708.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sun. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Sun could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sun) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sun. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9418, Longitude: -82.2857 In this case, the coordinates for Sun have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Sun 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 311.071 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.775 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.577 degrees. |