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 Pond Gap:
38.278160, -81.278724
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 one communities that are also named Pond Gap.
Within West Virginia, the name Pond Gap is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, there is another community also named Pond Gap in the United States.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Virginia
Augusta 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 Virginia community of Pond Gap [Augusta County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pond Gap ...
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 & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Pond Gap to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Pond Gap and extending to:
Charleston, which is the Seat of Kanawha County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<3> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Pond Gap to Charleston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 19 miles [30.6 km] to the west northwest (WNW). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 232 miles [373.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 14 days.
The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,102 miles [9,820.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,815 miles [10,967.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,690 miles [7,547.8 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 Pond Gap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pond Gap) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Pond Gap 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 Pond Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2782, Longitude: -81.2787 In this case, the coordinates for Pond Gap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.448 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.259 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.734 degrees.