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 Waterway Estates:
36.716944, -76.183889
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 share the name Waterway Estates.
Within Virginia, the name Waterway Estates is unique.
Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Waterway Estates in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Florida
Lee County
This Waterway Estates is located in Lee County and lies 772 miles [1,242.4 km]<1> to the south southwest.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lee County community of Waterway Estates.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Waterway Estates ...
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.
Butts (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butts have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
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 Waterway Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Waterway Estates and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Waterway Estates to Richmond, with an average speed<3>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 157 miles [252.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,953 miles [9,580.4 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 4,528 miles [7,287.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Waterway Estates) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Waterway Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7169, Longitude: -76.1839 In this case, the coordinates for Waterway Estates 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 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 Waterway Estates to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.523 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.687 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.194 degrees.