Absolute magnitude is how bright a star is.
Apparent magnitude is how bright it looks to us (on Earth).
Apparent magnitude is the brightness as observed from earth, while absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star at a set distance. The apparent magnitude considers the stars actual brightness as well as it's distance from us, but absolute magnitude takes the distance factor out so that star brightnesses can be directly compared.
The star is called Altair; the absolute magnitude is estimated at 2.21.The star is called Altair; the absolute magnitude is estimated at 2.21.The star is called Altair; the absolute magnitude is estimated at 2.21.The star is called Altair; the absolute magnitude is estimated at 2.21.
That's the number called the star's "Absolute Magnitude".That is called the star's "absolute magnitude".
Distance
One dimmer star can be closer than a brighter star that is far away. Light flux decreases as the square of the distance. A star that is three times as far away will have to shine nine times brighter than the closer star (absolute magnitude) to appear to have the same magnitude (apparent magnitude). Because apparent magnitude is the brightness of a star, as seen from Earth, whereas absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star as seen from the same distance - about 32.6 light years away.
The standard distance is 10 parsecs. At this distance the star's apparent magnitude equals its absolute magnitude. A star 100 parsecs away has an absolute magnitude 5 magnitudes brighter than its apparent magnitude. 1 parsec is 3.26 light-years.
How far away the star is.
Absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude are the same because they are both ways on how to measure the brightness of a star. Absolute magnitude is how bright is the star if we will see it in a 32.616 light-years distance while apparent magnitude is the brightness of it that we see on Earth.
That's called the star's absolute magnitude.
No. The sun has an absolute magnitude of 4.83. By comparison, Betelgeuse has an absolute magnitude of -5.85. Lower numbers indicate a brighter star. In this case Betelgeuse is actually several thousand times brighter than the sun. The sun is the brightest star as measure by apparent magnitude, which is how bright a star looks from a given location and depends on both absolute magnitude and distance.
No. Absolute magnitude is an intrinsic property of the star, but apparent magnitude also depends on the star's distance from Earth.
-5.1