Sound like you are describing Jupiter and its moons to me. Was the "bright star" clearly a bright disc at high magnification, rather than a pinpoint of light?
If you don't have any planetarium software, fire this up:-
http://www.skyviewcafe.com/skyview.php
and see if that helps. If you click on the "Moons/GRS" tab, it shows you where the moons are.
An hour ago, Europa was in transit in front of Jupiter so you would only see the other three moons.
Yes, you should see a bit of surface detail on Jupiter with your 8" scope. Is it well collimated?
In fact, Europa's shadow is crossing the face of Jupiter right now? But you won't see that if you are not seeing some banding on Jupiter. I suspect some collimation of your reflector is required.
Plenty of guidance on this site, if the manual doesn't help.
Happy viewing!