RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Dane County >> Sunburst >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Sunburst, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sunburst and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • 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 Sunburst:
    • 43.177771, -89.290394
    • 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 Sunburst
  • 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 Dane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dane County
    • Since Sunburst is near Columbia County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Sunburst

Communities Also Named Sunburst ...

We found three communities that are also named Sunburst.

Within Wisconsin, the name Sunburst is unique.

Beyond Wisconsin, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Montana
      • Toole County
      • This Sunburst is located in Toole County and lies 1,148 miles [1,847.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Sunburst that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Toole County community of Sunburst.
    • North Carolina
      • Haywood County
      • This Sunburst is located in Haywood County and lies 634 miles [1,020.3 km]<1> to the southeast of the Sunburst that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Haywood County community of Sunburst.
    • Wyoming
      • Campbell County
      • This Sunburst is located in Campbell County and lies 810 miles [1,303.6 km]<1> to the west of the Sunburst that is located in Dane County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Campbell County community of Sunburst.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sunburst ...

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.

  • Catfish ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Catfish is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Catfish
  • Cottage Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Cottage Grove is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Grove
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,158 people
  • Darwin ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Darwin is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darwin
  • DeForest
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • DeForest is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeForest
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,915 people
  • Elmside
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Elmside is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmside
  • Maple Bluff
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Maple Bluff is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Bluff
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,307 people
  • Pebble Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Pebble Valley is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pebble Valley
  • Pierceville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Pierceville is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierceville
  • Raintree
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Raintree is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree
  • Seminary Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Seminary Springs is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Springs
  • Token Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Token Creek is located in Dane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Token Creek

How Far From Sunburst to ...

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 Sunburst to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sunburst and extending to:

  • Madison, which is the Seat of Dane County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Sunburst to Madison, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Madison, which is the State Capital of Wisconsin, lies 9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest (SW). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 702 miles [1,129.8 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,178 miles [9,942.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,814 miles [7,747.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sunburst) 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 Sunburst 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 Sunburst. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.1778, Longitude: -89.2904       In this case, the coordinates for Sunburst have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.541 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.775 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.028 degrees.