For what it's worth, the Sun is classified as a dwarf main sequence star. It is bright to us, but that's because it's only eight minutes away as light goes. Put it out 10 parsecs, about 32 light years away, and you get its so-called absolute magnitude, which is roughly that of a very dim 5th magnitude star. <br /><br />The "dome" above us looks 2-D, but is of course 3-D. Some stars which are very bright, such as Sirius, are so primarily because they are nearby. Others are much brighter, but farther away. An interesting contrast is Sirius at -1.4 magnitude, which makes it the brightest true star, but which is about eight light years away, very close. In contrast, Orion's brightest star, Rigel, is just over zero magnitude -- and it's 1,500 light years away. Imagine how bright Rigel would be if it were 10 parsecs away, or just eight light years away.