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 Oak Flat:
38.659561, -79.212815
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 three communities that are also named Oak Flat.
Within West Virginia, the name Oak Flat is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arkansas
Van Buren County
This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Oak Flat [Van Buren County].
Texas
Angelina County
This Oak Flat is located in Angelina County and lies 1,002 miles [1,612.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Oak Flat that is located in Pendleton County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Angelina County community of Oak Flat.
Nacogdoches County
This Oak Flat is located in Nacogdoches County and lies 996 miles [1,602.9 km] to the west southwest of the Oak Flat that is located in Pendleton County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nacogdoches County community of Oak Flat.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Oak Flat ...
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 Oak Flat to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Oak Flat and extending to:
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 132 miles [212.4 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Oak Flat to Charleston, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 118 miles [189.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,999 miles [9,654.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,709 miles [10,797.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,585 miles [7,378.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
Footnotes ...
<1>
We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Oak Flat, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Oak Flat) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>
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.
<5>
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 Oak Flat 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 Oak Flat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6596, Longitude: -79.2128 In this case, the coordinates for Oak Flat have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.194 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.886 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.722 degrees.