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 Coalwood:
37.387335, -81.652609
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 Coalwood.
Within West Virginia, the name Coalwood is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Michigan
Alger County
This Coalwood is located in Alger County and lies 670 miles [1,078.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Coalwood that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alger County community of Coalwood.
Montana
Powder River County
This Coalwood is located in Powder River County and lies 1,357 miles [2,183.9 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Coalwood that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Powder River County community of Coalwood.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Coalwood ...
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 Coalwood to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Coalwood and extending to:
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 66 miles [106.2 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Coalwood to Charleston, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 271 miles [436.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,157 miles [9,908.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,868 miles [11,053 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,744 miles [7,634.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
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- Coalwood) 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 Coalwood 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 Coalwood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3873, Longitude: -81.6526 In this case, the coordinates for Coalwood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.688 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.402 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.176 degrees.