The reason we primarily see stars that are relatively close to us is due to the vast distances and the finite speed of light. When we look out into the night sky, we are essentially looking back in time because the light from distant objects takes time to reach us.
The universe is estimated to be around 13.8 billion years old, and the light we receive from objects that are billions of light-years away has been traveling across space for an extremely long time. However, there is a limit to how far we can see or observe objects in the universe, known as the observable universe.
The observable universe is determined by the finite speed of light. Since light travels at a constant speed of about 299,792 kilometers per second (or about 186,282 miles per second) in a vacuum, it takes time for light to travel from distant objects to reach our telescopes or our eyes.
As a result, when we look at very distant objects, we are effectively seeing them as they appeared in the past. For example, if a star is located 10 million light-years away, the light we observe from that star today actually left the star 10 million years ago. In this way, our view of the universe is limited to a sphere with a radius of about 13.8 billion light-years centered on us.
Since the universe is vast and contains billions of galaxies, we can observe many objects within this observable universe. However, the farther away an object is, the longer it takes for its light to reach us. This means that the most distant objects we can observe are those whose light has had enough time to reach us since the beginning of the universe.
So, while there are certainly many stars and galaxies beyond our immediate neighborhood, their light hasn't had sufficient time to reach us yet. Therefore, we primarily see stars and objects that are relatively close to us in cosmic terms.