magnitude

Definition: In astronomy: measure of the relative brightness of a celestial body. * Based on quantification of observations of Hipparchus in which first magnitude is brightness of brightest star and sixth is that of faintest visible star. * A difference of 5 magnitude steps equates to a difference of 100 times in brightness; i.e. 1 magnitude step equals a change of factor 2.512.

Previous Term: magnifying power  Next Term: Maksutov corrector

Type a photography term below to find its definition: