apparent magnitude

history

The magnitude scale dates to before the ancient Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, whose star catalog popularized the system by listing stars from 1st magnitude (brightest) to 6th magnitude (dimmest). The modern scale was mathematically defined in a way to closely match this historical system.

not to be confused with

absolute magnitude

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Cabinda

tagged

The word magnitude in astronomy, unless stated otherwise, usually refers to a celestial object’s apparent magnitude.

tags

astronomy

wikipedia

Apparent magnitude (Wikipedia) Apparent magnitude (m) is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object. An object’s apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction of the object’s light caused by interstellar dust along the line of sight to the observer.