How do you describe a real-world situation involving absolute and apparent magnitudes?

Answer 1

A star is a massive, luminous ball of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of theenergy on Earth. Other stars are visible from Earth during the night when they are not outshone by the Sun or blocked by atmospheric phenomena. Historically, the most prominent stars on the celestial sphere were grouped together into constellations and asterisms, and the brightest stars gained proper names. Extensive catalogues of stars have been assembled by astronomers, which provide standardized star designations.

For at least a portion of its life, a star shines due to thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen in its core releasing energy that traverses the star's interior and then radiates into outer space. Almost all naturally occurring elements heavier thanhelium were created by stars, either via stellar nucleosynthesis during their lifetimes or by supernova nucleosynthesiswhen stars explode. Astronomers can determine the mass, age, chemical composition and many other properties of a star by observing its spectrum, luminosity and motion through space. The total mass of a star is the principal determinant in its evolution and eventual fate. Other characteristics of a star are determined by its evolutionary history, including diameter, rotation, movement and temperature. A plot of the temperature of many stars against their luminosities, known as a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (H-R diagram), allows the age and evolutionary state of a star to be determined.

A star begins as a collapsing cloud of material composed primarily of hydrogen, along with helium and trace amounts of heavier elements. Once the stellar core is sufficiently dense, some of the hydrogen is steadily converted into helium through the process of nuclear fusion.[1] The remainder of the star's interior carries energy away from the core through a combination of radiative and convective processes. The star's internal pressure prevents it from collapsing further under its own gravity. Once the hydrogen fuel at the core is exhausted, those stars having at least 0.4 times the mass of the Sun[2] expand to become a red giant, in some cases fusing heavier elements at the core or in shells around the core. The star then evolves into a degenerate form, recycling a portion of the matter into the interstellar environment, where it will form a new generation of stars with a higher proportion of heavy elements.[3]

Binary and multi-star systems consist of two or more stars that are gravitationally bound, and generally move around each other in stable orbits. When two such stars have a relatively close orbit, their gravitational interaction can have a significant impact on their evolution.[4] Stars can form part of a much larger gravitationally bound structure, such as a cluster or a galaxy.

Duh ! - Oh NaNa Whats My Name

Answer 2

Our Sun is a medium-sized star with an absolute magnitude of 4.83. The red giant star Betelgeuse (at the shoulder of the constellation Orion) has an absolute magnitude of -6.05. Lower numbers mean brighter stars, with negative numbers being brighter than positive numbers.

So Betelgeuse is THOUSANDS\\\\\MILLIONS of times brighter than the Sun - or at least, they would be if you were halfway in between them. But because Betelgeuse is about 650 light-YEARS away, and the Sun is 8 light-MINUTES away, the Sun looks enormous and Betelgeuse looks like a dot in the night sky.

When we factor in the DISTANCE, then the difference between absolute magnitude (how bright the star would be from a fixed distance) and APPARENT magnitude (how bright it seems to be to US) becomes clear.