The absolute magnitude (M) is a scale for measuring the actual brightness of a celestial object without accounting for the distance of the object. Absolute magnitude measures how bright an object would appear if it were exactly 10 parsecs (about 33 light-years) away from Earth. On this scale, the Sun has an absolute magnitude of +4.8 while it has an apparent magnitude of -26.7 because it is so close.[1] Absolute magnitude is a measure of a star’s intrinsic luminosity and allows observers to directly compare stars.[2]
Advertisement