This is Larry and I'm an amateur astronomer as well as a teacher at the local observatory.
I agree, the star you're looking at is Mars. Just to the left of it is a wonderful star cluster called The Pleiades. Point your binoculars at that--it's breathtaking.
If you are at all interested in buying a telescope (and I have to respectfully disagree with Nootka here), if you buy the right one and have the right sort of guidebook or someone to guide you, they aren't all that difficult to use. If you buy one from Walmart or Costco/Sam's Club you are getting something that is difficult AND frustrating to use.
I bought Brianna a small telescope a couple of years ago that >I< love and use often.
It only cost $139.00 and is far superior to the ones that are sold at the superstores.
Let me send you to a site that is chock full of information for beginners. It is a lilbeginnings version of an astronomy site--much larger (believe it or not) and with a wealth of folks who would be willing to help you. The addie is
http://www.cloudynights.com. They love beginners and are willing to answer just about any question. They even have a beginner's forum. I am there nearly as frequently as MA is on this site so you just might bump into me. Look for miniventures (how odd
)
That said, binoculars are a wonderful introduction to astronomy and star gazing. If you buy a pair, don't get any larger than 10 X 50's. Any bigger than that and they'll be difficult to hold steady without a tripod. Mine are perfectly adequate and they are 8 X 40's. I use them a lot! A great book to go along with your binoculars is StarWatch by Phil Harrington.
Liz that's an awfully nice photo of Albireo. It's one of my favorite things to show beginner's