absolute magnitude

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. the magnitude of a star as it would appear to a hypothetical observer at a distance of 10 parsecs or 32.6 light-years.

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absolute magnitude British  

noun

1. the apparent magnitude a given star would have if it were situated at a distance of 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) from the earth

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absolute magnitude Scientific  

1. See under at magnitude

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Etymology

Origin of absolute magnitude

First recorded in 1900–05

Compare meaning

How does absolute-magnitude compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• apparent magnitude vs. absolute magnitude

Example Sentences

By this method the absolute magnitude, and hence the distance of a star is accurately determined from estimates of the relative intensities of certain lines in stellar spectra.

From Astronomy: The Science of the Heavenly Bodies by Todd, David Peck

Differences of absolute magnitude, density, period of revolution, eccentricity, and inclination of the orbits.

From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Humboldt, Alexander von

Well, first one is struck with the absolute magnitude assigned to T. The figures seem vastly greater than would have been anticipated.

From The Value of Money by Anderson, Benjamin M.

What is the absolute magnitude of the near stars that are not contained in table?

From Lectures on Stellar Statistics by Charlier, Carl Vilhelm Ludvig

We conclude that the number of stars having an absolute magnitude brighter than 6m amounts to 8.

From Lectures on Stellar Statistics by Charlier, Carl Vilhelm Ludvig