What does the Sun travel around? Nothing: everything else travels around the Sun.

What is the Sun made of? Hot glowing gas, so the Sun makes its own light.

So the Sun is a star.

Europa is a round ball of ice and rock, and it travels around Jupiter.

What does Europa travel around? Europa travels around a planet, Jupiter.

So Europa is a moon of Jupiter.

Europa travels around Jupiter, so Europa is a moon. Not to scale.

Vesta is a small lumpy rock, and it travels around the Sun. So Vesta is an asteroid.

Halley's Comet is ice and dust, and it travels around the Sun. So Halley's Comet is a comet.

Five objects sorted by the two questions.

So, when Vera said the bright point was the first star out, she was not right.

The bright point is Venus, a planet lit up by the Sun.

Planets, moons, asteroids and comets make no light of their own.

So a bright point in the night sky may be a planet, lit up by the Sun.