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 Dan:
37.354557, -81.800114
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 seven communities that are also named Dan.
Within West Virginia, the name Dan is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Alabama
Madison County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Alabama community of Dan [Madison County].
Kentucky
Letcher County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Dan [Letcher County].
Menifee County
This Dan is located in Menifee County and lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Dan that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Menifee County community of Dan.
Ohio County
We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Dan [Ohio County].
Texas
Wise County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Texas community of Dan [Wise County].
Virginia
Franklin County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Dan [Franklin County].
Spotsylvania County
This Dan is located in Spotsylvania County and lies 220 miles [354.1 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Dan that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Spotsylvania County community of Dan.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dan ...
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 Dan to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Dan and extending to:
Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Dan to Welch, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 69 miles [111 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 about three full days and walking would take three full days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 279 miles [449 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,165 miles [9,921.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,875 miles [11,064.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,751 miles [7,646 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.
Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.
Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.
Also keep in mind that Dan could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>
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- Dan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Dan 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 Dan. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3546, Longitude: -81.8001 In this case, the coordinates for Dan have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.777 degrees.
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.499 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.248 degrees.