Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bright Star, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bright Star and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bright Star
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- 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 Bright Star:
- 34.160649, -86.430263
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Bright Star
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Blount County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blount County
- Since Bright Star is near Marshall County and also Cullman County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Marshall County
- eBird sighting report for Cullman County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Bright Star ...
We found five communities that share the name Bright Star.
Within Alabama, the name Bright Star is unique.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Howard 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 Arkansas community of Bright Star [Howard County].
- Miller 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 Arkansas community of Bright Star [Miller County].
- Georgia
- Douglas County
- This Bright Star is located in Douglas County and lies 99 miles [159.3 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Bright Star that is located in Blount County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Bright Star.
- Texas
- Rains County
- This Bright Star is located in Rains County and lies 539 miles [867.4 km]<2> to the west of the Bright Star that is located in Blount County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rains County community of Bright Star.
- Van Zandt 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 Bright Star [Van Zandt County].
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bright Star ...
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.
- Big Spring ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
- Big Spring is located in Marshall County
- Birdie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Clarence
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarence
- Clarence is located in Blount County
- Craig
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Fowler ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Fridays Crossing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fridays Crossing
- Fridays Crossing is located in Blount County
- Highmound
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highmound
- Highmound is located in Blount County
- Hopewell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Liberty
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Nixon Chapel
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nixon Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nixon Chapel
- Nixon Chapel is located in Marshall County
- Old Snead
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Red Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Reedbrake ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Rock Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Springs
- Rock Springs is located in Blount County
- Susan Moore
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Susan Moore
- Susan Moore is located in Blount County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 797 people
- Nixon Chapel
How Far From Bright Star to ...
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 Bright Star to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bright Star and extending to:
- Oneonta, which is the Seat of Blount County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Bright Star to Oneonta, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 123 miles [197.9 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 614 miles [988.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,505 miles [10,468.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,216 miles [11,613 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,092 miles [8,194.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bright Star. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Blount County: www.co.blount.al.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
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 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 Bright Star 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 '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- Bright Star) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bright Star. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1606, Longitude: -86.4303 In this case, the coordinates for Bright Star have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Bright Star to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.489 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.16 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.006 degrees. |