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 Vivian:
37.418170, -81.487326
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 nine communities that share the name Vivian.
Within West Virginia, the name Vivian is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Arizona
Mohave County
This community is historic<1> and although located in Mohave County, we don't know where within the county.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mohave County community of Vivian.
Louisiana
Caddo Parish
This Vivian is located in Caddo Parish and lies 771 miles [1,240.8 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Vivian that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Caddo Parish community of Vivian.
Manitoba
This Vivian lies 1,135 miles [1,826.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the Vivian that is located in McDowell County.
Minnesota
Waseca County
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Vivian [Waseca County].
Nevada
Elko County
This Vivian is located in Elko County and lies 1,855 miles [2,985.3 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Vivian that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Elko County community of Vivian.
Oklahoma
McIntosh County
This Vivian is located in McIntosh County and lies 803 miles [1,292.3 km]<2> to the west of the Vivian that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the McIntosh County community of Vivian.
Ontario
We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ontario community of Vivian.
South Dakota
Lyman County
This Vivian is located in Lyman County and lies 1,079 miles [1,736.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Vivian that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lyman County community of Vivian.
Texas
Foard County
This Vivian is located in Foard County and lies 1,057 miles [1,701.1 km]<2> to the west of the Vivian that is located in McDowell County.
For more information, please visit our profile page for the Foard County community of Vivian.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vivian ...
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 that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Vivian to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vivian and extending to:
Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 64 miles [103 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Vivian to Charleston, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three 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 262 miles [421.6 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 15 days.
The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,149 miles [9,895.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,859 miles [11,038.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,735 miles [7,620.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
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 Vivian, 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- Vivian) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vivian. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4182, Longitude: -81.4873 In this case, the coordinates for Vivian have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>
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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Vivian 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.
<4>
The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<5>
While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>
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.
<7>
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 Vivian to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<8>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.589 degrees.
<9>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.293 degrees.
<10>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.097 degrees.