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If it resembles a really bright white ‘star’, it’s the planet Jupiter. Jupiter is exactly in that part of the sky about this time of the night.

[ETL]

I do amateur astronomy from Manhattan, btw. Jupiter has been amazingly bright for a few months now. It, like Venus, when it is out at night or in the early morning, is often mistaken for an approaching plane’s headlights or a hovering helicopter.

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The ‘ray’ of light you saw coming from it was probably something caused by your own eyes, like when you squint at a bright light and a long thin column of light appears.