Absolute magnitude |
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The magnitude scale is about apparent brightness - how bright the star looks to the naked eye. The brightest stars are magnitude 1 and the faintest are magnitude 6. A nova could for a short time be as bright as magnitude zero or even -1 which is brighter. The full moon is of magnitude -12.5. Absolute magnitude is the apparent brightness if the star were placed at a distance of ten parsecs. The Sun (absolute magnitude 4.8) would be a faint star if it were at this distance (32.6 light years). Absolute magnitude is also called luminosity - or real brightness. |
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