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In astronomy, absolute magnitude (M) is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse logarithmic astronomical magnitude scale; the more luminous (intrinsically bright) an object, the lower its magnitude number. An object's absolute magnitude is defined to be equal to the apparent magnitude that the object would have if it ...
For example, 3C 273 has an average apparent magnitude of 12.8 (when observing with a telescope), but an absolute magnitude of −26.7. If this object were 10 parsecs away from Earth it would appear nearly as bright in the sky as the Sun (apparent magnitude −26.744).
An illustration of light sources from magnitude 1 to 3.5, in 0.5 increments. In astronomy, magnitude is a measure of the brightness of an object, usually in a defined passband. An imprecise but systematic determination of the magnitude of objects was introduced in ancient times by Hipparchus. Magnitude values do not have a unit.
In astronomy, the apparent brightness of a star, or any other luminous object, is called the apparent magnitude. The apparent magnitude depends on the intrinsic brightness (also called absolute magnitude) of the object and its distance. If all stars had the same luminosity, the distance from Earth to a particular star could be easily determined.
The brightness usually refers the object's absolute magnitude, which, in turn, is its apparent magnitude at a distance of one astronomical unit from the Earth and Sun. The phase curve is useful for characterizing an object's regolith (soil) and atmosphere. It is also the basis for computing the geometrical albedo and the Bond albedo of the body.
The apparent magnitude, the magnitude as seen by the observer (an instrument called a bolometer is used), can be measured and used with the absolute magnitude to calculate the distance d to the object in parsecs [14] as follows: = + or = (+) / where m is the apparent magnitude, and M the absolute magnitude. For this to be accurate, both ...
The monochromatic AB magnitude is defined as the logarithm of a spectral flux density with the usual scaling of astronomical magnitudes and a zero-point of about 3 631 janskys (symbol Jy), [1] where 1 Jy = 10 −26 W Hz −1 m −2 = 10 −23 erg s −1 Hz −1 cm −2 ("about
There is also a significant increase in luminosity, reaching an absolute magnitude of −19.3 (or 5 billion times brighter than the Sun), with little variation. [87] The model for the formation of this category of supernova is a close binary star system.