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Two different stars with different luminosity may appear to have the same brightness to an observer because the brighter may be more distant.

This illustrates the need in astronomy to help range distant stars; since apparent magnitude alone will not yield enough information to gauge distance. The establishment of a "standard candle" or object of known brightness can be used for comparison; these can be established through various means including statistical models, observation of variable stars, behavior of nearby supernovae, etc. Once the distance of a star is known, the absolute magnitude can be derived from the apparent magnitude using the inverse-square law.

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How do you describe the stars of the first magnitude?

"First magnitude" usually means the brightest 21 stars, as seen from Earth. Another definition is stars with apparent magnitudes 0.5 to 1.5. This definition excludes the very brightest stars, like Sirius. They are the first stars that become visible after sunset and they all have names. Examples are Altair, Aldebaran, Capella, Spica, Antares, Fomalhaut, Deneb, Regulus, Sirius, etc. There can be confusion because First Magnitude stars are not stars with an "apparent magnitude" of exactly "one". They are just the brightest stars, but naturally their magnitudes are close to one.


What types of numbers are used to represent the magnitudes of very bright stars?

The magnitudes of very bright stars are represented using the apparent magnitude scale, which is a logarithmic scale. In this system, lower numerical values indicate brighter stars, with some of the brightest stars having negative magnitudes. For example, a star with a magnitude of -1 is brighter than one with a magnitude of +1. This scale allows astronomers to compare the brightness of celestial objects effectively.


The brighter the star the small the magnitude?

Magnitudes of stars start in the negative, so the brightest star from Earth is of course the Sun, so it has an apparent magnitude of -26.74 (Note negative), whereas Polaris (The North Star) has an apparent magnitude of +1.97 See related question for differences between apparent and absolute magnitude.


What is A star's level of brightness as viewed by the unaided eye?

A star's brightness as viewed by the unaided eye is measured using its apparent magnitude, which quantifies how bright a star appears from Earth. The scale is logarithmic, meaning a difference of 5 magnitudes corresponds to a brightness factor of 100. Stars with an apparent magnitude of around 6 or lower can typically be seen without telescopes, while brighter stars have lower magnitude values. For example, the brightest stars in the night sky, like Sirius, have apparent magnitudes of around -1.46.


Who are the astronomer divided the stars into six magnitudes of brightness?

The astronomer who divided stars into six magnitudes of brightness was Hipparchus, a Greek astronomer active in the 2nd century BCE. He developed a system to categorize stars based on their apparent brightness, with the first magnitude representing the brightest stars and the sixth magnitude representing the faintest stars visible to the naked eye. This magnitude scale laid the groundwork for modern astronomical classification of stellar brightness.

Related Questions

How 2 stars could have the same apparent magnitude but different absolute magnitudes?

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The brightest stars have apparent magnitudes that are?

The brightest stars have apparent magnitudes that are lower, indicating they appear brighter in the sky. The apparent magnitude scale is inverted, with lower values representing brighter objects and higher values representing dimmer objects. Bright stars typically have apparent magnitudes between -1 to 1.


What are the brightness of stars?

magnitude, dim stars have positive magnitudes and bright stars have negative magnitudes


How big is 6.6 magnitude?

In the context of stars, a magnitude is not a measure of size but of brightness or apparent brightness. The apparent magnitude of the sun is -27 while Sirius, the brightest star has a magnitude of only -1.4: negative magnitudes are more bright, and stars with magnitudes greater than 6.5 are not visible to the naked eye. However, the sun is a star of modest modest size compared with some of the giants and supergiants.


Why is the absolute magnitude of some stars greater their apparent magnitude?

The apparent magnitude is how bright the star appears to us, but stars are all at different distances so that a star that is really bright might look dim because it is very far away. So the absolute magnitude measures how bright the star would look if it was placed at a standard distance of 10 parsecs. When the absolute magnitude is greater than the apparent magnitude, it just means that it is closer than 10 pc. The brightest stars have absolute magnitudes around -7.


How do you describe the stars of the first magnitude?

"First magnitude" usually means the brightest 21 stars, as seen from Earth. Another definition is stars with apparent magnitudes 0.5 to 1.5. This definition excludes the very brightest stars, like Sirius. They are the first stars that become visible after sunset and they all have names. Examples are Altair, Aldebaran, Capella, Spica, Antares, Fomalhaut, Deneb, Regulus, Sirius, etc. There can be confusion because First Magnitude stars are not stars with an "apparent magnitude" of exactly "one". They are just the brightest stars, but naturally their magnitudes are close to one.


What types of numbers are used to represent the magnitudes of very bright stars?

The magnitudes of very bright stars are represented using the apparent magnitude scale, which is a logarithmic scale. In this system, lower numerical values indicate brighter stars, with some of the brightest stars having negative magnitudes. For example, a star with a magnitude of -1 is brighter than one with a magnitude of +1. This scale allows astronomers to compare the brightness of celestial objects effectively.


Which one tells us how bright the stars would appear if all stars were at the same distance ferom the earth?

There are two terms used to describe a stars brightness, absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude. The one you want is absolute magnitude - this is where the stars distance from us is taken out of the equation, effectively comparing the stars brightness side by side from a set distance (10 parsecs or 32.6 light years). Apparent magnitude is the other measure, this is how bright a star apparently looks from Earth. The huge distances and range of distances involved means that you can have very bright stars (high absolute magnitude) that apparently look as bright as a much closer but dimmer (low absolute magnitude) star - their apparent magnitudes might be similar, but they may have vastly different absolute magnitudes.


The brighter the star the small the magnitude?

Magnitudes of stars start in the negative, so the brightest star from Earth is of course the Sun, so it has an apparent magnitude of -26.74 (Note negative), whereas Polaris (The North Star) has an apparent magnitude of +1.97 See related question for differences between apparent and absolute magnitude.


What indicates a stars temperature and brightness?

A star's temperature is indicated by its color, with hotter stars appearing blue and cooler stars appearing red. Brightness is measured using the star's apparent magnitude, with higher magnitudes representing dimmer stars and lower magnitudes representing brighter stars.


What is A star's level of brightness as viewed by the unaided eye?

A star's brightness as viewed by the unaided eye is measured using its apparent magnitude, which quantifies how bright a star appears from Earth. The scale is logarithmic, meaning a difference of 5 magnitudes corresponds to a brightness factor of 100. Stars with an apparent magnitude of around 6 or lower can typically be seen without telescopes, while brighter stars have lower magnitude values. For example, the brightest stars in the night sky, like Sirius, have apparent magnitudes of around -1.46.


What is the magnitudes stars of Pisces?

There are 86 stars in the constellation which appear in the Bayer/Flamsteed catalogues. There are no stars brighter than an apparent magnitude of 3. The brightest are Alrescha and Kullat Nunu (both mag 3.62).