What is the really bright star.....?

Good chance it was Venus. After the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the next brightest object in the sky.

Here's a link to Sky and Telescope. You can do your own research. I find this a nice site to check weekly

Yep, it's Venus. Check it out, it's the lead picture:

http://skytonight.com/observing/ataglance

Okay, I checked out a star chart - Venus IS in that part of the sky, so that's the most likely answer. As another dude above me said, Fomalhaut is JUST above the horizon at that time - unlikely to be seen by you due to haze, etc. Also Fomalhaut has apparent magnitude 1.16, while Venus maxes out at -4.7. So I'm guessing you're looking at Venus.

Disregard the answer about the sun, of course. I believe the person stating Venus has got it right. The best way to tell if you are looking at a star or a planet is to simply remember the rhyme...Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Only stars appear to Twinkle at night, while Plants will remain a constant light source as long as there is no outside interference with that light. Ex. clouds other planets etc.

SIRIUS is the brightest star in the sky. however if you're talking about that really bright thing in the sky near the sunset that's venus. what you are seeing is the sun's light bouncing off venus just like it bounces off the moon and lights half of it up. if you had a telescope you might be able to see that venus is only half lit up or maybe even a crescent shape. but from so far away to the naked eye, it just looks like a star

Probably Venus.

That's the planet Venus.

Chances are it is not a star, but planet Venus.

it's not a star it the planet venus sometimes called the morning or evening star depending if yousee it in the morning or evening

It's Venus, a planet, actually.

Yeah your location does matter, and that is possibly Sirius, the brightest star of the sky in , visible from northern hemisphere, if your observation is made in this time of year, otherwise please mention date and time..