The flashlights in this demonstration are placeholders for stars. There is no way that a class can investigate a real star close up, so an alternative light source must be used. The Victoria Department of Education and Training gives some background information on stars (or a flashlight in this case), "There are more stars in the sky than anyone can easily count, but they are not scattered evenly, and they are not all the same in brightness or color." The closer a source of light is to our line of vision, the larger it will appear and the brighter. The flashlight that is only 2 feet from the board will appear brighter and more massive than the flashlight held at 4 feet.

Source: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/science/continuum/mapstars2.pdf

Gretel's claim is supported by the research from NASA that her teacher presented. The Sun appears to be the brightest star because it is closest to Earth. It does not appear brightest because its the hottest, largest, or the brightest in the galaxy. "We live so close to it that it outshines everything else." This is the reason the Sun looks so bright.

There is no piece of text evidence that supporters the claim that it is possible to measure the actual brightness of stars. There are two lines from NASA that dispute the claim, "To find out the true brightness of a star; scientists need to know how far it is. Without a good way to know how much of this interstellar fog is blocking the light, there is no reliable way to discover the true brightness of a star.". This evidence makes it clear that it is not possible to measure the distance or the brightness of a star.

Dot's argument is in complete contradiction with the evidence she provided! The statement from NASA says that there is a star 100,000 times brighter than the Sun, and if it were closer, it would be bright enough to see in the daytime. This is the opposite of her claim and argument. The Sun appears brightest because it is closest to us and is the only star in our Solar System, but there are other stars in the galaxy that are much brighter.

NASA's passage explains that space dust is a complication with measuring a star's actual brightness. Stars are extremely far from Earth, and the interference of space dust can cause scientists to be unable to measure the distance accurately. The dust is much like a fog is on Earth adn clouds the view.

NASA provides some background on the Sun compared to other stars, "Of course, the star that appears the brightest to all of us on Earth is the Sun. Although it is a rather typical star, not all that different from many of the ones you see at night, we live so close to it that it outshines everything else. Even the next closest star is more than a quarter of a million times farther from Earth, so it is not surprising that the light from the Sun overwhelms that from other stars." Due to the Earth's close (in relative terms) proximity to the Sun, it appears brightest to use because it is closer than all other stars in the galaxy.

NASA provides some background on the Sun compared to other stars, "Of course, the star that appears the brightest to all of us on Earth is the Sun. Although it is a rather typical star, not all that different from many of the ones you see at night, we live so close to it that it outshines everything else. Even the next closest star is more than a quarter of a million times farther from Earth, so it is not surprising that the light from the Sun overwhelms that from other stars." Due to the Earth's close (in relative terms) proximity to the Sun, it appears brightest to use because it is closer than all other stars in the galaxy.

NASA provides some background on the Sun compared to other stars, "Of course, the star that appears the brightest to all of us on Earth is the Sun. Although it is a rather typical star, not all that different from many of the ones you see at night, we live so close to it that it outshines everything else. Even the next closest star is more than a quarter of a million times farther from Earth, so it is not surprising that the light from the Sun overwhelms that from other stars." Due to the Earth's close (in relative terms) proximity to the Sun, it appears brightest to use because it is closer than all other stars in the galaxy.

The stars that we see in the night sky are part of our Milky Way Galaxy, but they are not part of our solar system. Our solar system only has one star, the Sun. Galaxies contain millions to billions of stars, and depending on their proximity to Earth, some appear brighter than others. They are extremely far from us and not a part of our solar system.

NASA provides some background on the Sun compared to other stars, "Of course, the star that appears the brightest to all of us on Earth is the Sun. Although it is a rather typical star, not all that different from many of the ones you see at night, we live so close to it that it outshines everything else. Even the next closest star is more than a quarter of a million times farther from Earth, so it is not surprising that the light from the Sun overwhelms that from other stars." Due to the Earth's close (in relative terms) proximity to the Sun, it appears brightest to use because it is closer than all other stars in the galaxy.

The Sun is the only star in our solar system, so that fact makes the statement true. The Sun is the most massive, hottest, and brightest star in our solar system. There are millions if not billions of stars in our galaxy, and the Sun is not the hottest or largest in comparison, but in our solar system, it is!

NASA provides some background on the Sun compared to other stars, "Of course, the star that appears the brightest to all of us on Earth is the Sun. Although it is a rather typical star, not all that different from many of the ones you see at night, we live so close to it that it outshines everything else. Even the next closest star is more than a quarter of a million times farther from Earth, so it is not surprising that the light from the Sun overwhelms that from other stars." Due to the Earth's close (in relative terms) proximity to the Sun, it appears brightest to use because it is closer than all other stars in the galaxy.

There are millions if not billions of stars in our galaxy, and the Sun is not the hottest or largest in comparison, but in our solar system, it is! Many students have the misconception that because our star is the brightest that we can see, it must be the largest, hottest, and brightest of all stars. This is untrue. It only appears to be the brightest because of its proximity to Earth.