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Our Sun is the brightest star of course, but presuming you discount that, the next brightest are:Sirius, Canopus, Alpha Centauri, Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Rigel and Procyon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_brightest_stars
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Is a third magnitude star 10 times brighter then a 4th magnitude star?
Absolutely. When speaking of the brightness you see from earth, you are speaking of apparent magnitude. When considering the type of star, it's composition, stage, age, size, distance, etc., a star is also assigned an absolute magnitude, so the ranking of the star if seen from similar distances reveals the truth about a star. 3.26 light years away is the assumed distance in ranking stars. A star many times farther away than a second star may appear much brighter than the second star which is much closer, based partially on the various factors mentioned above. The lower the value for a magnitude, the brighter, or more correctly, the more luminous, a star. Thus, a 3.4 is brighter than a 5.1, for example. Long ago the scale was originally an arbitrary ranking based on certain stars that were considered to be the brightest. Since then, stars even brighter have been identified, thus the need to use values even less than zero. Only a handful of stars fall below zero in apparent magnitude. So then it is not significant where in the sky (in what constellation) a star lies, the magnitude value determines the brightness.
Are the brightest stars low or high magnitude?
The brightest stars have lower magnitude numbers. So a "First magnitude star" is one of the brightest stars there are. Some things are even brighter; the planet Venus is sometimes the third brightest thing in the sky (after the Sun and the Moon). The magnitude of Venus can be as bright as -1. Higher numbers are for dimmer stars. About the dimmest star you could see would be a seventh-magnitude star, but only if the sky were VERY dark.
If star A is third magnitude and star B is fifth magnitude which is brighter and by what factor?
A 3rd magnitude star is brighter than a 5th magnitude star by a factor of 6.25.Each integer difference of magnitude represents a change in apparent brightness of 2.5 times. Hence, a 3rd magnitude star is 2.5 x 2.5 = 6.25 times brighter than a 5th magnitude star.(check related links)
How many times brighter is a magnitude 1 star than a magnitude 2 star?
Good, a nice question with a definite answer. The magnitude1 star is 2.512 times brighter (near enough).
How is stars brightness measured from earth?
Astronomers use a special term to talk about the brightness of stars. The term is "magnitude". The magnitude scale was invented by the ancient Greeksaround 150 B.C. The Greeks put the stars they could see into six groups. They put the brightest stars into group 1, and called them magnitude 1 stars. Stars that they could barely see were put into group 6. So, in the magnitude scale, bright stars have lower numbers.
Star A is a first magnitude star. Star B is a sixth magnitude star. Which star is brighter and by how much?
A magnitude 1 star is 100 times brighter than a magnitude 6 star.A magnitude 1 star is 100 times brighter than a magnitude 6 star.A magnitude 1 star is 100 times brighter than a magnitude 6 star.A magnitude 1 star is 100 times brighter than a magnitude 6 star.
The brightness of stars as they appear from Earth is measured by magnitude?
Stars are measured in brilliance called magnitude. The faintest stars visible to the naked eye are mag.6. Brighter ones are mag. 1 or 2, the even brighter stars have negative magnitude. So its like a number line in math: Brighter Fainter -6_-5_-4_-3_-2_-1__0__1_2_3_4_5_6
Is a star with magnitude -1 the brightest?
Lower magnitude numbers are brighter; negative numbers represent brighter objects than positive numbers.
Is a third magnitude star 10 times brighter then a 4th magnitude star?
Absolutely. When speaking of the brightness you see from earth, you are speaking of apparent magnitude. When considering the type of star, it's composition, stage, age, size, distance, etc., a star is also assigned an absolute magnitude, so the ranking of the star if seen from similar distances reveals the truth about a star. 3.26 light years away is the assumed distance in ranking stars. A star many times farther away than a second star may appear much brighter than the second star which is much closer, based partially on the various factors mentioned above. The lower the value for a magnitude, the brighter, or more correctly, the more luminous, a star. Thus, a 3.4 is brighter than a 5.1, for example. Long ago the scale was originally an arbitrary ranking based on certain stars that were considered to be the brightest. Since then, stars even brighter have been identified, thus the need to use values even less than zero. Only a handful of stars fall below zero in apparent magnitude. So then it is not significant where in the sky (in what constellation) a star lies, the magnitude value determines the brightness.
What things must an astronomer measure to calculate a star's absolute brightness?
Telescopes, combined with spectroscopy are used for the colors. The apparent brightness can be measured using a telescope with a special "CCD camera". To measure the "real" brightness ("absolute magnitude") you also need to be able to work out the distance to the star.
Are the brightest stars low or high magnitude?
The brightest stars have lower magnitude numbers. So a "First magnitude star" is one of the brightest stars there are. Some things are even brighter; the planet Venus is sometimes the third brightest thing in the sky (after the Sun and the Moon). The magnitude of Venus can be as bright as -1. Higher numbers are for dimmer stars. About the dimmest star you could see would be a seventh-magnitude star, but only if the sky were VERY dark.
If star A is third magnitude and star B is fifth magnitude which is brighter and by what factor?
A 3rd magnitude star is brighter than a 5th magnitude star by a factor of 6.25.Each integer difference of magnitude represents a change in apparent brightness of 2.5 times. Hence, a 3rd magnitude star is 2.5 x 2.5 = 6.25 times brighter than a 5th magnitude star.(check related links)
What are the eight conspicuous stars magnitude 1?
The question is, I think about "apparent magnitude". The question is hard to answer precisely, because there aren't eight stars of magnitude 1 exactly. There is the expression "stars of the first magnitude" which is the 21 brightest stars (in apparent magnitude). Our Sun is not included. Anyway, here is that list starting with Sirius, the brightest (magnitude -1.46) down to Regulus (magnitude +1.36) : Sirius Canopus Arcturus Alpha Centauri Vega Capella Rigel Procyon Betelgeuse Achernar Hadar Altair Acrux (Alpha Crucis) Aldebaren Spica Antares Formalhaut Pollux Deneb Becrux (Beta Crucis) Regulus.
How many times brighter is a magnitude 1 star than a magnitude 2 star?
Good, a nice question with a definite answer. The magnitude1 star is 2.512 times brighter (near enough).
How would you calculate how much brighter a magnitude plus 4 star is than a magnitude plus 7 star?
The model for measuring the apparent magnitude (brightness from earth) of a star says that a magnitude 1 star will be 100 times brighter than a magnitude 6 star (just visible with the naked eye). This means that a magnitude 1 star is 2.512 times brighter than a magnitude 2 star, which is 2.512 times brighter than a magnitude 3 star. To jump two places up the scale, use 2.512 x 2.512 as a multiplier, i.e. mag 1 is 6.31 times brighter than magnitude 3 star. To jump three places use 2.512 x 2.512 x 2.512 (or 2.512 cubed) = 15.851. So a magnitude 4 star will be 15.85 times brighter than a magnitude 7 star. Working the other way, a magnitude 7 star will appear 6.3% as bright as a magnitude 4 star (1/15.85 and x 100 to get percentage).
How would you compare the brightness of Polaris with that of other stars in the sky?
Stars' brightness is measured by their magnitudes. There are first-magnitude stars which are the bright ones, down to 6th magnitude which is the faintest that can be seen with perfect eyesight on perfectly clear nights. Within that you can have stars with fractional magnitudes, for example magnitude 3.5 is half a magnitude fainter than magnitude 3. There are also negative magnitudes for the few brightest stars that are brighter than magnitude 0. The scale is logarithmic, with a difference of 5 magnitudes equal to a difference of 100 in brightness. Each magnitude is a ratio of 100^(1/5) which is equal to 2.512. Polaris has a magnitude of 2.02 and is less than a degree from being exactly in line with the Earth's north and south poles, which means when you look at it you are always facing north, to better than 1 degree.
What is a first magnitude star called?
The term magnitude is used to define the apparent brightness of an object from Earth. The scale has its origins in the Hellenistic practice of dividing stars, visible to the naked eye into six magnitudes.The brightest stars were said to be of first magnitudewhile the faintest were of sixth magnitude by visual perception.Each magnitude was considered to be twice the brightness of the following grade (a logarithmic scale).Nowadays there are more than six magnitudes and the use of negative values were introduced. So our Sun have an apparent magnitude of -26.73 whilst Uranus is 5.5See related for for information
