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 Upper Tract:
Curious and Interesting Names Near Upper Tract ...
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 included the distance from a community such as Upper Tract to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Upper Tract and extending to:
Franklin, which is the Seat of Pendleton County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Upper Tract to Franklin, with an average speed<4> 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.
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 130 miles [209.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
The White House (Washington, DC) is 121 miles [194.7 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 5,997 miles [9,651.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,707 miles [10,793.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,583 miles [7,375.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
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<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 from Point A (ie- Upper Tract) 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 Upper Tract 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 Upper Tract. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7873, Longitude: -79.2825 In this case, the coordinates for Upper Tract have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.23 degrees.
<7>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.947 degrees.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.707 degrees.