Star
The Sun has an apparent magnitude of −26.7, but its absolute magnitude is only +4.83. Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky as seen from Earth, is approximately 23 times more luminous than the Sun, while Canopus, the second brightest star in the night sky with an absolute magnitude of −5.53, is approximately 14,000 times more luminous than the Sun. Despite Canopus being vastly more luminous than Sirius, however, Sirius appears brighter than Canopus. This is because Sirius is merely 8.6 light-years from the Earth, while Canopus is much farther away at a distance of 310 light-years.
Alpha Sextantis
Alpha Sextantis (α Sex, α Sextantis) is the brightest star in the equatorial constellation of Sextans. It is visible to the naked eye on a dark night with an apparent visual magnitude of 4.49. The distance to this star, as determined from parallax measurements, is around 280 light years. This is considered an informal "equator star", as it lies less than a quarter of a degree south of the celestial equator. In 1900, it was 7 minutes of arc north of the equator. As a result of a shift in the Earth's axial tilt, it crossed over to the Southern Hemisphere in December 1923.