The Sun is a pretty average star in terms of brightness. It's not the brightest star out there, but it's not particularly dim either.

Here's a breakdown:

* Absolute Magnitude: This measures a star's intrinsic brightness, ignoring distance. The Sun has an absolute magnitude of +4.83.

* Comparison: Stars with lower absolute magnitudes are brighter. For example, Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky, has an absolute magnitude of +1.46.

* Average: The Sun is actually brighter than about 85% of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy.

* Not the brightest: There are many stars significantly brighter than the Sun, like Rigel (absolute magnitude -7.0), Betelgeuse (-5.87), and Deneb (-8.53).

So, while the Sun is a pretty average star in terms of brightness, it's still incredibly bright, just not the brightest in the universe.