Home > Terms > Spanish, Latin American (XL) > magnitud

magnitud

Astronomical brightness measured on a logarithmic scale, based on the ancient practice of noting that the brightest stars in the sky were of "first importance" or "first magnitude", the next brightest being "second magnitude" etc. The human eye is a logarithmic detector, and in 1854 Pogson formalized this scale and defined a difference of 5 magnitudes to be exactly a factor of 100 in brightness. The scale is calibrated to the bright star Vega which is defined to have a magnitude of 0. For reference, the faintest naked-eye magnitude visible from a dark site is +6. Comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake reached magnitude 0 in late March 1996.

0
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Featured Terms

michael.cen
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 13

    Followers

Industry/Domain: People Category: Musicians

Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum es una banda estadounidense de música country que está compuesta por tres personas: Charles Kelly, Dave Haywood y Hilary Scott. Ambos ...

Contributor

Featured blossaries

Natural Remedies

Category: Arts   1 6 Terms

The World's Nine Most Powerful Women

Category: Politics   1 9 Terms

Browers Terms By Category