What characterizes a stellar magnitude? Detailed answer

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What characterizes a stellar magnitude? Detailed answer

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What characterizes a stellar magnitude?

A magnitude is a physical unit of measurement for the luminosity of celestial objects.

The first attempt to classify (catalogue) stars based on their luminosity was made by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of Nicaea in the 6nd century BC. His work was continued in the 1nd century AD by Claudius Ptolemy. They divided the stars into 6 classes. The brightest stars were named stars of the XNUMXst magnitude, and the XNUMXth magnitude was assigned to stars barely visible to the naked eye.

The approximate division of stars into luminosity classes was overcome in the middle of the 2,5th century by the English astronomer Norman Pogson. Noticing that the difference in luminosity between neighboring classes is about 3 times (for example, a star of the 2,5rd magnitude is approximately 4 times brighter than a star of the 1th magnitude), and between stars of the 6st and 5th magnitude magnitudes that differ by 100 magnitudes, there is a luminosity ratio of 1:2,512, Pogson established a scale of stellar magnitudes in which the ratio between adjacent classes is 1:2,512 (100 is the fifth root of XNUMX).

Thus, the previous classification was preserved, while receiving a mathematical justification.

Over time, the equipment became more perfect and it became possible to measure the luminosity of stars more accurately: up to tenths, and then hundredths of a stellar magnitude. For bright stars, the magnitude is, for example: for Deneb 1,25; Aldebaran 0,85; Vegi 0,04. On this scale, the brightest stars have a negative magnitude: Sirius -1,46; Canopus -0,72; Arcturus -0,04.

The term "magnitude" also refers to the luminosity of such diffuse objects as nebulae and galaxies (in this case, "magnitude" is taken as a whole for the entire surface of the object).

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

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