absolute magnitude

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noun Astronomy.

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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Compare apparent magnitude.

Origin of absolute magnitude

First recorded in 1900–05

Words nearby absolute magnitude

absolute humidity, absolute impediment, absolute judgment, absolutely, absolutely convergent, absolute magnitude, absolute majority, absolute maximum, absolute minimum, absolute monarchy, absolute music

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use absolute magnitude in a sentence

And the given absolute magnitude to which it is equal is the rectangle beneath the unequal segments, without gnomon.
William Oughtred|Florian Cajori
The absolute magnitude of my misfortune only loomed upon me by degrees.
The O'Conors of Castle Conor|Anthony Trollope
These relations are, absolute magnitude of force, relation of force and of the different arms mutually, and nature of the country.
On War|Carl von Clausewitz
When we say "absolute magnitude," we do not mean a magnitude which stands out of all relations to other facts in the universe.
Social Value|B. M. Anderson

What is the absolute magnitude of the near stars that are not contained in table?
Lectures on Stellar Statistics|Carl Vilhelm Ludvig Charlier

British Dictionary definitions for absolute magnitude

absolute magnitude

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for absolute magnitude

absolute magnitude

See under at magnitude.