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 Somerset:
42.972024, -72.948434
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 are also named Somerset.
Within Vermont, the name Somerset is unique.
Beyond Vermont, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
New York
Niagara County
This Somerset is located in Niagara County and lies 283 miles [455.4 km]<1> to the west of the Somerset that is located in Windham County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Niagara County community of Somerset.
Wisconsin
Saint Croix County
This Somerset is located in Saint Croix County and lies 989 miles [1,591.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Somerset that is located in Windham County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Croix County community of Somerset.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Somerset ...
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 that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Somerset to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Somerset and extending to:
Newfane, which is the Seat of Windham County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Somerset to Newfane, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
Montpelier, which is the State Capital of Vermont, lies 90 miles [144.8 km] to the north (N). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 352 miles [566.5 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,559 miles [8,946.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,272 miles [10,093.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,148 miles [6,675.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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- Somerset) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Somerset 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 Somerset. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.9720, Longitude: -72.9484 In this case, the coordinates for Somerset have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.031 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.86 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.126 degrees.