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How are absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude similar?

In: Astronomy [Edit categories]

Answer:

Magnitude is used in astronomy to indicate how bright a star is. Because of historical reasons the lower the magnitude the brighter the star.

Now, if you measure the brightness of a star in the sky you do not automatically know how bright the star itself is. This is because a bright star in the sky might be close by and somewhat bright, or it might be very far away and extremely bright.

You need to know the distance to the star in question in order to know the actual brightness. Thus, the apparent magnitude is just a measure of how much light we receive here on Earth.

The absolute magnitude is the apparent magnitude IF the star would be at a distance of 10 parsecs away from Earth, and is thus a measure of the intrinsic brightness of the star regardless of distance.

First answer by Paraseus. Last edit by Paraseus. Contributor trust: 17 [recommend contributor ]. Question popularity: 0 [recommend question].

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Relevant answers:

Compare apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude?
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What is the Sun's absolute magnitude and its apparent magnitude?
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Why do you need the apparent magnitude and the absolute magnitude of a star?
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