Which natural object is, by far, the brightest object visible in the sky, exceeding Venus at its peak brightness?
Answer
The Sun (apparent magnitude of approximately -26.78)
While Venus is the second brightest natural object visible, only surpassed by the Moon in most night sky observations, the Sun remains overwhelmingly the brightest object in the sky overall. The Sun possesses an apparent magnitude measured at approximately $-26.78$. This figure dwarfs the maximum brightness Venus can achieve, which is around $-4.92$. This immense difference highlights that the direct light output from our star is fundamentally more luminous than the reflected light from our neighboring planet.
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