* The Sun is the only star we see directly. It's so close to us that its light overwhelms all other stars.

* All other stars are too far away to appear as anything but points of light. We can't see their actual size or color.

So, technically, there isn't a "brightest star" in the sky besides the sun. We measure the brightness of stars based on their apparent magnitude, which is how bright they appear from Earth. Here's a more helpful answer:

* The brightest star in our night sky (after the sun) is Sirius. It's a binary star system, meaning it has two stars orbiting each other.

Let me know if you have any other astronomy questions!