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 West Groton:
44.218117, -72.243430
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.
Open the Heavens-Above website centered on West Groton
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 Caledonia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
We found two communities that are also named West Groton.
Within Vermont, the name West Groton is unique.
Beyond Vermont, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Massachusetts
Middlesex County
This West Groton is located in Middlesex County and lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the West Groton that is located in Caledonia County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Middlesex County community of West Groton.
New York
Tompkins County
This West Groton is located in Tompkins County and lies 238 miles [383 km]<1> to the west southwest of the West Groton that is located in Caledonia County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tompkins County community of West Groton.
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Groton ...
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 that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as West Groton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in West Groton and extending to:
Saint Johnsbury, which is the Seat of Caledonia County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Groton to Saint Johnsbury, with an average speed<2> 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 five to six hours.
Montpelier, which is the State Capital of Vermont, lies 16 miles [25.7 km] to the west (W). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take most of a day.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 442 miles [711.3 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,481 miles [8,820.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,198 miles [9,974.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,073 miles [6,554.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
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- West Groton) 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 West Groton 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 West Groton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2181, Longitude: -72.2434 In this case, the coordinates for West Groton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.414 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.378 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.162 degrees.