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 Sunray:
36.780704, -76.411056
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 are also named Sunray.
Within Virginia, the name Sunray is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Oklahoma
Stephens County
This Sunray is located in Stephens County and lies 1,218 miles [1,960.2 km]<1> to the west.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stephens County community of Sunray.
Texas
Moore County
This Sunray is located in Moore County and lies 1,409 miles [2,267.6 km]<1> to the west.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Moore County community of Sunray.
Utah
Weber County
This Sunray is located in Weber County and lies 1,922 miles [3,093.2 km]<1> to the west northwest.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Weber County community of Sunray.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sunray ...
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 Sunray to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sunray and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Sunray to Richmond, with an average speed<2>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 150 miles [241.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,960 miles [9,591.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,654 miles [10,708.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,535 miles [7,298.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sunray) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
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.
<3>
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 Sunray 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 Sunray. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7807, Longitude: -76.4111 In this case, the coordinates for Sunray have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.648 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.84 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.259 degrees.