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While magnitude generally refers to a measurement in a particular filter band corresponding to some range of wavelengths, the apparent or absolute bolometric magnitude (m bol) is a measure of an object's apparent or absolute brightness integrated over all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum (also known as the object's irradiance or ...
The apparent magnitude (m) is the brightness of an object and depends on an object's intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and the extinction reducing its brightness. The absolute magnitude (M) describes the intrinsic luminosity emitted by an object and is defined to be equal to the apparent magnitude that the object would have if it were placed ...
For objects within the immediate neighborhood of the Sun, the absolute magnitude M and apparent magnitude m from any distance d (in parsecs, with 1 pc = 3.2616 light-years) are related by = = (), where F is the radiant flux measured at distance d (in parsecs), F 10 the radiant flux measured at distance 10 pc.
The total magnitude of a comet is the combined magnitude of the coma and nucleus. The apparent magnitude of an astronomical object is generally given as an integrated value—if a galaxy is quoted as having a magnitude of 12.5, it means we see the same total amount of light from the galaxy as we would from a star with magnitude 12.5.
Visual distance moduli are computed by calculating the difference between the observed apparent magnitude and some theoretical estimate of the absolute magnitude. True distance moduli require a further theoretical step; that is, the estimation of the interstellar absorption coefficient.
The bolometric correction scale is set by the absolute magnitude of the Sun and an adopted (arbitrary) absolute bolometric magnitude for the Sun.Hence, while the absolute magnitude of the Sun in different filters is a physical and not arbitrary quantity, the absolute bolometric magnitude of the Sun is arbitrary, and so the zero-point of the bolometric correction scale that follows from it.
The apparent magnitude is the observed visible brightness from Earth which depends on the distance of the object. The absolute magnitude is the apparent magnitude at a distance of 10 pc (3.1 × 10 17 m), therefore the bolometric absolute magnitude is a logarithmic measure of the bolometric luminosity.
The apparent brightness of Mercury as seen from Earth is greatest at phase angle 0° (superior conjunction with the Sun) when it can reach magnitude −2.6. [14] At phase angles approaching 180° (inferior conjunction) the planet fades to about magnitude +5 [14] with the exact brightness depending on the phase angle at that particular ...