steelyglint Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 hi can anybody explain simlpy what magnatude is?! im aware of the numbers corrasponding to brightness...or do i have this all wrong? help me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MjrTom Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 No probs try this for the detailed answer Magnitude (astronomy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magic612 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 It is a measure of brightness. In a way, it can seem a little backwards at first: Lower numbers are brighter, higher numbers are dimmer. So a 1st mag star is brighter than a 2nd mag star, etc.But on that same line of thought, negative numbers are even brighter. So Sirius, the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere, is around -1, much brighter than 0 or first magnitude stars. If you remember that the Full Moon is about -13 and the Sun is -27, you won't be too confused though!Also, there is difference of about 2.5 in brightness of each magnitude. So a 1st mag star is 2.5x as bright as a 2 mag star. This is logarithmic, so a 1st magnitude star is 100x brighter than a 6th magnitude star (and 250x brighter than a 7th mag star, and 625x brighter than an 8th mag star, etc.).Make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelyglint Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 you know what that does...im actuly gonna write that in me journal...best explaination iv had yet mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I'd figured out the basics, but never realised it to that length. Well explained! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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