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Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic energy per unit time, and is synonymous with the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object. [1] [2] In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a star, galaxy, or other astronomical objects. [3] [4]
It is a function of the star's luminosity, its distance from Earth, the extinction effect of interstellar dust and gas, and the altering of the star's light as it passes through Earth's atmosphere. Intrinsic or absolute magnitude is directly related to a star's luminosity, and is the apparent magnitude a star would be if the distance between ...
Combined magnitude (3rd brightest star in night sky) −0.04: star Arcturus: seen from Earth 4th brightest star to the naked eye [47] −0.01: star Alpha Centauri A: seen from Earth 4th brightest individual star visible telescopically in the night sky +0.03: star Vega: seen from Earth originally chosen as a definition of the zero point [48] +0. ...
In astronomy, absolute magnitude (M) is a measure of the luminosity of a celestial object on an inverse logarithmic astronomical magnitude scale; the more luminous (intrinsically bright) an object, the lower its magnitude number.
A more complex definition of absolute magnitude is used for planets and small Solar System bodies, based on its brightness at one astronomical unit from the observer and the Sun. The Sun has an apparent magnitude of −27 and Sirius, the brightest visible star in the night sky, −1.46. Venus at its brightest is -5.
The mass/luminosity relation is important because it can be used to find the distance to binary systems which are too far for normal parallax measurements, using a technique called "dynamical parallax". [8] In this technique, the masses of the two stars in a binary system are estimated, usually in terms of the mass of the Sun.
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Photographic magnitude (m ph or m p) is a measure of the relative brightness of a star or other astronomical object as imaged on a photographic film emulsion with a camera attached to a telescope. An object's apparent photographic magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity , its distance and any extinction of light by interstellar matter ...