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A star like Deneb, for example, has a luminosity around 200,000 L ⊙, a spectral type of A2, and an effective temperature around 8,500 K, meaning it has a radius around 203 R ☉ (1.41 × 10 11 m). For comparison, the red supergiant Betelgeuse has a luminosity around 100,000 L ⊙ , a spectral type of M2, and a temperature around 3,500 K ...
A difference of 5 magnitudes between the absolute magnitudes of two objects corresponds to a ratio of 100 in their luminosities, and a difference of n magnitudes in absolute magnitude corresponds to a luminosity ratio of 100 n/5. For example, a star of absolute magnitude M V = 3.0 would be 100 times as luminous as a star of absolute magnitude M ...
For example, a star at one distance will have the same apparent magnitude as a star four times as bright at twice that distance. In contrast, the intrinsic brightness of an astronomical object, does not depend on the distance of the observer or any extinction .
Early photometric measurements (made, for example, by using a light to project an artificial “star” into a telescope's field of view and adjusting it to match real stars in brightness) demonstrated that first magnitude stars are about 100 times brighter than sixth magnitude stars.
It is a function of the star's luminosity, its distance from Earth, the extinction effect of interstellar dust and gas, and the altering of the star's light as it passes through Earth's atmosphere. Intrinsic or absolute magnitude is directly related to a star's luminosity, and is the apparent magnitude a star would be if the distance between ...
Occasionally, letters a and b are applied to luminosity classes other than supergiants; for example, a giant star slightly less luminous than typical may be given a luminosity class of IIIb, while a luminosity class IIIa indicates a star slightly brighter than a typical giant.
Typical boundary conditions set the values of the observable parameters appropriately at the surface (=) and center (=) of the star: () =, meaning the pressure at the surface of the star is zero; () =, there is no mass inside the center of the star, as required if the mass density remains finite; () =, the total mass of the star is the star's ...
The main sequence luminosity function maps the distribution of main sequence stars according to their luminosity. It is used to compare star formation and death rates, and evolutionary models, with observations. Main sequence luminosity functions vary depending on their host galaxy and on selection criteria for the stars, for example in the ...