Apparent and Absolute Magnitude
Two specific types of magnitudes distinguished by astronomers are:
- Apparent magnitude, the apparent brightness of an object. For example, Alpha Centauri has higher apparent magnitude (i.e. lower value) than Betelgeuse, because it is much closer to the Earth.
- 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 certain distance. For stars it is 10 parsecs (32.6 light years). Betelgeuse has much higher absolute magnitude than Alpha Centauri, because it is much more luminous.
Usually only apparent magnitude is mentioned, because it can be measured directly; absolute magnitude can be calculated from apparent magnitude and distance using;
This is known as the distance modulus, where d is the distance to the star measured in parsecs.
Read more about this topic: Magnitude (astronomy)
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