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  2. Magnitude (astronomy) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnitude_(astronomy)

    Apparent magnitude, the brightness of an object as it appears in the night sky. Absolute magnitude, which measures the luminosity of an object (or reflected light for non-luminous objects like asteroids); it is the object's apparent magnitude as seen from a specific distance, conventionally 10 parsecs (32.6 light years).

  3. Apparent magnitude - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_magnitude

    Apparent magnitude (m) is a measure of the brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value 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.

  4. Luminosity - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminosity

    In contrast, the term brightness in astronomy is generally used to refer to an object's apparent brightness: that is, how bright an object appears to an observer. Apparent brightness depends on both the luminosity of the object and the distance between the object and observer, and also on any absorption of light along the path from object to ...

  5. Absolute magnitude - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_magnitude

    Because Solar System bodies are illuminated by the Sun, their brightness varies as a function of illumination conditions, described by the phase angle. This relationship is referred to as the phase curve. The absolute magnitude is the brightness at phase angle zero, an arrangement known as opposition, from a distance of one AU.

  6. List of brightest stars - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_brightest_stars

    This is a list of stars arranged by their apparent magnitude – their brightness as observed from Earth. It includes all stars brighter than magnitude +2.50 in visible light, measured using a V-band filter in the UBV photometric system.

  7. Hertzsprung–Russell diagram - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertzsprung–Russell_diagram

    The Sun is found on the main sequence at luminosity 1 (absolute magnitude 4.8) and B−V color index 0.66 (temperature 5780 K, spectral type G2V). The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (abbreviated as H–R diagram , HR diagram or HRD ) is a scatter plot of stars showing the relationship between the stars' absolute magnitudes or luminosities and ...

  8. Surface brightness - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_brightness

    In astronomy, surface brightness (SB) quantifies the apparent brightness or flux density per unit angular area of a spatially extended object such as a galaxy or nebula, or of the night sky background. An object's surface brightness depends on its surface luminosity density, i.e., its luminosity emitted per unit surface area.

  9. List of most luminous stars - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_luminous_stars

    This is a list of stars arranged by their absolute magnitude – their intrinsic stellar luminosity. This cannot be observed directly, so instead must be calculated from the apparent magnitude (the brightness as seen from Earth), the distance to each star, and a correction for interstellar extinction.