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A star also radiates neutrinos, which carry off some energy (about 2% in the case of the Sun), contributing to the star's total luminosity. [5] The IAU has defined a nominal solar luminosity of 3.828 × 10 26 W to promote publication of consistent and comparable values in units of the solar luminosity. [6]
Following Resolution B2, the relation between a star's absolute bolometric magnitude and its luminosity is no longer directly tied to the Sun's (variable) luminosity: = + where L ★ is the star's luminosity (bolometric luminosity) in watts
The absolute magnitude (M) describes the intrinsic luminosity emitted by an object and is defined to be equal to the apparent magnitude that the object would have if it were placed at a certain distance, 10 parsecs for stars. A more complex definition of absolute magnitude is used for planets and small Solar System bodies, based on its ...
This is based on the width of certain absorption lines in the star's spectrum, which vary with the density of the atmosphere and so distinguish giant stars from dwarfs. Luminosity class 0 or Ia+ is used for hypergiants, class I for supergiants, class II for bright giants, class III for regular giants, class IV for subgiants, class V for main ...
In 1856, Norman Robert Pogson formalized the system by defining a first magnitude star as a star that is 100 times as bright as a sixth-magnitude star, thereby establishing the logarithmic scale still in use today. This implies that a star of magnitude m is about 2.512 times as bright as a star of magnitude m + 1.
A giant star has a substantially larger radius and luminosity than a main-sequence (or dwarf) star of the same surface temperature. [1] They lie above the main sequence (luminosity class V in the Yerkes spectral classification) on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram and correspond to luminosity classes II and III. [2]
The star, called LHS 3154, is relatively close to us, about 50 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).
A compact region in the center of a galaxy displaying a much higher than normal luminosity over some part of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not produced by stars. A galaxy hosting an AGN is called an active galaxy. airborne observatory An airplane with an astronomical telescope. albedo