Concept information
Preferred term
Apparent magnitude
Definition
- A measure of a star's observed brightness (opposed to absolute magnitude); symbol m. It depends on the star's intrinsic brightness, its distance from the observer, and the amount of interstellar absorption. The brightest star Sirius has an apparent magnitude of -1.46, while the weakest stars visible with the naked eye in the most favorable observation conditions have magnitudes of about +6.5. The stars of magnitudes less than +23 are measured by professional observatories, whereas those of magnitudes less than +30 by a telescope such as the Hubble Space Telescope. (en)
Broader concept
- Magnitude (en)
Narrower concepts
- Limiting magnitude (en)
- Period determination (en)
- Photoelectric magnitude (en)
- Photographic magnitude (en)
- Photovisual magnitude (en)
- Pogson scale (en)
- Two-color diagrams (en)
- Variable star period change (en)
Entry terms
- Visual magnitude (en)
URI
http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/59
{{label}}
{{#each values }} {{! loop through ConceptPropertyValue objects }}
{{#if prefLabel }}
{{/if}}
{{/each}}
{{#if notation }}{{ notation }} {{/if}}{{ prefLabel }}
{{#ifDifferentLabelLang lang }} ({{ lang }}){{/ifDifferentLabelLang}}
{{#if vocabName }}
{{ vocabName }}
{{/if}}