Final answer:
The Sun is a main-sequence star on the H-R diagram and is comparatively typical and less luminous than the brightest stars, which are often much larger and hotter superluminous spectral type O stars. Most of the closest stars to Earth are similar to or less bright than the Sun, with 90% being less luminous main-sequence stars, 10% being white dwarfs, and fewer than 1% being giants or supergiants.
Step-by-step explanation:
How Our Sun Compares to Bright Stars on the HR Diagram
The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, or H-R diagram, is a graphical tool used to classify stars based on their luminosity and surface temperature. The Sun is a main-sequence star, which means it falls along the narrow band that runs diagonally from the upper-left (hot, highly luminous stars) to the lower-right (cool, less luminous stars) on the H-R diagram. Most of the bright stars that we can see from Earth without telescopes tend to be at the upper-left portion of the main sequence or may even be off of the main sequence if they are giants or supergiants; they are significantly more luminous and often larger than the Sun. Superluminous stars like these are very hot and of spectral type O.
When comparing to the closest stars or those within 10 to 20 light-years of the Sun, we find that about 90% of these stars are less luminous main-sequence stars similar to the Sun, about 10% are white dwarfs, and fewer than 1% are giants or supergiants. Therefore, many of the stars closest to us on the H-R diagram would be found below or near where the Sun is positioned, marking them as less bright. This indicates that the Sun is relatively typical of the stars nearby but less luminous compared to the brightest stars we can see, many of which are farther away and more massive.