Lecture Note: 2

Magnitude: Apparent and Absolute

Dr. H. S. Das
Department of Physics
Assam university, Silchar
 Luminosity (L): It is the amount of energy a body
radiates per unit time (J/s = W). In astronomy, we use
as a unit L (sun’s luminosity).

 Apparent brightness (F or b), or light flux (W/m2): The

amount of light emitted in the unit of time, per unit
area.

Inverse square law

L L - luminosity (W)
b d - distance to star (m)
4 d 2
b - brightness (flux) (W/m2)
 L
b
4 d 2

 A star’s luminosity (total light output), apparent

brightness, and distance from the Earth are related
by the inverse-square law.

 If any two of these quantities are known, the third
can be calculated.
We measure a star’s apparent brightness. If
we know the distance, we can determine the
star’s luminosity (or the true output of
energy).
Magnitude:
 Famous Greek astronomer
Hipparcos (c.190 – c.120 BC)
classified the stars visible to the
naked eye into six different
brightness classes called
magnitudes.
Hipparcos chose to
categorize the brightest stars
as magnitude 1, and the
faintest as magnitude 6
(smaller numbers are brighter
stars).

The magnitude system of

Hipparcos is still in use today in
a slightly revised form.
Modern Magnitude Scale:
 The apparent brightness of a star as measured by the
human eye (or human perception) defines the stellar
magnitude scale. This is a logarithmic scale.
 The old magnitude scale was introduced by the Greek

astronomer Hipparchus: brightest stars have a

magnitude m = 1, half as bright have m = 2, the faintest,
m = 6.
 In 1856, N.R. Pogson formalized the magnitude

system so that a 1st magnitude star is 100 times brighter

than a 6th magnitude star. Or, a 1st magnitude star is
2.512 times brighter than a 2nd magnitude star.
 A variation of 1 in the magnitude scale corresponds to
a factor of 2.512 in brightness, because (2.512)5 = 100.

Apparent
Apparentmagnitude
magnitude Apparent brightness ratio b1/b2
difference
difference m - m
1 2

1 2.512
2 2.5122 = 6.31
3 2.5123 = 15.85
4 2.5124 = 39.82
5 2.5125 = 100
10 2.51210 = 104
20 2.51220 = 108

Thus,
These are apparent magnitudes, because they are
related to the apparent brightness (i.e. they have no
information about the total output of energy from a
star).

The apparent magnitude scale is a logarithmic scale

and it is reversed: dimmer stars have higher
apparent magnitudes.
 From brightness/apparent magnitude relation,

m m m m
b m m  1  2 1  2  2 1
1  2.512 2 1  100 5   10 5 
b    
2
 
2 m m



  m2  m1 

2 1 

   
5 .40 m  m   2.5 
 10  10  2 1   10 

• Now taking base-10 log of both sides:

m m b b
2 1  log 1 or m  m  2.5 log 1
2.5 b 2 1 b
2 2
• This is exact!! The 2.5 is NOT a rounded-off 2.512…!!
Apparent Magnitude Scale:
Absolute Magnitude:
The apparent magnitude scale is distance dependent.
Therefore, this scale has no information about how
luminous (total energy output) stars are!

Thus, the absolute magnitude scale was introduced to

characterize the luminosity (L) of stars.

The absolute magnitude of a star (M) is the apparent

magnitude the star would have if it were at a distance of
10 parsec.
Absolute Magnitude:

 M  M 
 2 1
L 
 2.5  L
1  10 
or M  M  2.5 log 1
L 2 1 L
2 2

If d = 10 pc, then b = L. So we 100 pc 2

b L
say, since power ~ 1/d2 . . .
d2

• Consider one star at distance is 10 pc: then its magnitude

m1 is absolute magnitude M and its brightness b1 is
luminosity L
• at distance d: its magnitude is m2 and its brightness is b2
 b L  d 2L 
m  m  2.5 log 1  m  M  2.5 log  2.5 log 
2 1 b b  100L 
2  
d
 2.5  2 log d  log100  2.5 (2 log d  2 log10)  5 log
10

• final version of the relation:

d 
m  M  5 log  
 10 
 EXAMPLE
Example 1: The apparent magnitude of Sun is –26.83. Find
the absolute magnitude of Sun.
Given 1 AU = 4.848 X 10-6 pc.
Ans: +4.74.
Example 2: A star with apparent magnitude -3.5 is at d = 4 pc
a) Find M
b) How much brighter is the star at 4 pc than at 10 pc?

Example 3: Two identical stars appear so that one is 100

times brighter than the other
a) Find the difference in their apparent magnitudes
b) Find the ratio of their distances
Distance Modulus:

For a given star:

m - M = 5 log d – 5
m - apparent magnitudes (mag), M - absolute magnitude (mag)
d - distance (pc)
m - M is called the distance modulus
The Luminosity Function of Nearby Stars:

The number of stars in each bin of absolute magnitude is

called the luminosity function (LF).

-the LF is meaningful only in a volume-complete sample

of stars, e.g. within a 10 pc-radius sphere centered on
the Sun.

-the LF characterizes the population of stars, and had to

do with the star formation and evolution processes.
 The Luminosity Function of Nearby Stars

Stars of relatively low luminosity are more common than more

luminous stars
Most stars are less luminous than the Sun. Only 1 in 20 stars is
as luminous or more luminous than the Sun.
 Photometry and Color Ratios:

•Photometry measures the apparent brightness of a star

•The color ratios of a star are the ratios of brightness values obtained
through different standard filters, such as the U, B, and V filters

•The color ratios are a measure of the star’s surface temperature

A star’s color depends on its surface temperature:
Wien’sLaw
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