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  2. 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 ...

  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. 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).

  5. Luminosity distance - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminosity_distance

    The object's actual luminosity is determined using the inverse-square law and the proportions of the object's apparent distance and luminosity distance. Another way to express the luminosity distance is through the flux-luminosity relationship, = where F is flux (W·m −2), and L is luminosity (W). From this the luminosity distance (in meters ...

  6. Absolute magnitude - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_magnitude

    Their brightness can be approximated as = + ⁡ + ⁡ = + ⁡ + ⁡ (), where , are the total and nuclear apparent magnitudes of the comet, respectively, , are its "absolute" total and nuclear magnitudes, and are the body-sun and body-observer distances, is the Astronomical Unit, and , are the slope parameters characterising the comet's activity.

  7. 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.

  8. Brightness - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightness

    As defined by the US Federal Glossary of Telecommunication Terms , "brightness" should now be used only for non-quantitative references to physiological sensations and perceptions of light. [3] Brightness is an antonym of "dimness" or "dullness". With regard to stars, brightness is quantified as apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude.

  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.