* The sun IS a star. It's the closest star to us, which is why it appears so bright.

* Brightness is subjective. It depends on how far away a star is, how much light it actually emits, and how much dust or gas is in the way.

* We see different stars depending on location. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, you'll see different stars than someone in the Southern Hemisphere.

The brightest star we can see from Earth without a telescope is Sirius. It's about 8.6 light-years away and is actually a binary star system, meaning it has two stars orbiting each other.

However, there are stars much brighter than Sirius out there, they're just much farther away!