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:
- 32.832901, -95.674405
- 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 Rains County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rains County
- Since Bright Star is near Wood County and also Hopkins County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wood County
- eBird sighting report for Hopkins 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.
There is one other community in Texas which is also named Bright Star.
Beyond Texas, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Texas ...
- 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].
- Van Zandt County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Blount County
- This Bright Star is located in Blount County and lies 539 miles [867.4 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Bright Star that is located in Rains County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Blount County community of Bright Star.
- 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 630 miles [1,013.9 km]<2> to the east of the Bright Star that is located in Rains County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Douglas County community of Bright Star.
- Alabama
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.
- Calvary
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Colony
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Ginger
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Golden
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden
- Golden is located in Wood County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Golden <4>
- Hogansville
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hogansville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hogansville
- Hogansville is located in Rains County
- Prospect
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Rocky Point Center
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Point Center have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point Center
- Rocky Point Center is located in Rains County
- Shady Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Rains County
- Shotgun Crossing
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shotgun Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shotgun Crossing
- Shotgun Crossing is located in Rains County
- Willow Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
- Willow Springs is located in Rains County
How Far From Bright Star to ...
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 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:
- Emory, which is the Seat of Rains County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 214 miles [344.4 km]<2> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Bright Star to Austin, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,121 miles [1,804.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take over two days, a buggy would take 44 days and walking would take 64 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,939 miles [11,167.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,670 miles [12,343.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,548 miles [8,928.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
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 State of Texas: https://texas.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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 things 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: 32.8329, Longitude: -95.6744 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 319.202 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 315.626 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 314.153 degrees. |