Scott+&+Blake's+Star+Mag+Page

=Star Magnitude=

By Scott Kavoogian and Blake Shepard Science - Yellow

Absolute Magnitude

 * the brightness (luminossity) of stars when regarded from a standard distance-32.6 lightyears
 * classified by the size and temp of a star
 * accurate: puts all stars the same distance away from Earth and judges the stars' actual brightness

Apparent Magnitude
(See class notes at late January and early February) Every time you go up a point, you multiply that number by 2.5 (you don't add)
 * the fraction of the total energy let out of a star that strikes a detection devise on Earth
 * classified by the size and temp of the star and the distance that it is away from an observer
 * inaccurate: stars closer to Earth appear bighter than ones farther away so they are brighter, no matter how bright they really are

Conditions That Affect Apparent Magnitude (the way that you see stars)

 * light pollution in cities
 * hazy nights
 * cloudy nights
 * time (before or after sundown)
 * eye sight- if you have bad eyes, then stars won't appear as bright

Parallax
(See class notes at late January and early February)
 * definition: An apparent change in the direction of an object, caused by a change in observational position that provides a new line of sight
 * affects Apparent Magnitude