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 Willow Oaks:
37.540425, -77.511930
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 two communities that share the name Willow Oaks.
There is one other community in Virginia which is also named Willow Oaks.
Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Willow Oaks in the United States.
Communities Located In Virginia ...
Greensville County
This Willow Oaks is located in Greensville County and lies 48 miles [77.2 km]<1> to the south.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greensville County community of Willow Oaks.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
North Carolina
Vance County
This Willow Oaks is located in Vance County and lies 97 miles [156.1 km]<1> to the south southwest.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vance County community of Willow Oaks.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Willow Oaks ...
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.
Cherokee Hills (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Willow Oaks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Willow Oaks and extending to:
Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies just to the east (E).
The White House (Washington, DC) is 97 miles [156.1 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE). If you could drive a straight line from Willow Oaks to White House, 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 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,975 miles [9,615.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,676 miles [10,744 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,554 miles [7,329 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 from Point A (ie- Willow Oaks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Willow Oaks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5404, Longitude: -77.5119 In this case, the coordinates for Willow Oaks 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 Willow Oaks 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 308.242 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.633 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.418 degrees.