Absolute magnitude Totally Explained

Everything about Absolute Magnitude totally explained

In astronomy, absolute magnitude is the apparent magnitude an object would have if it were at a standard luminosity distance (10 parsecs) away from the observer, in the absence of interstellar extinction. It allows the overall brightnesses of objects to be compared without regard to distance.
The absolute magnitude uses the same convention as the visual magnitude, with a factor of ≈2.512 difference in brightness between steps in magnitude. The Milky Way, for example, has an absolute magnitude of about −20.5. So a quasar at an absolute magnitude of −25.5 is 100 times brighter than our galaxy (because 2.512⁵ ≈ 100). If this particular quasar and our galaxy could be seen side by side at the same distance, the quasar would be 5 magnitudes (or 100 times) brighter than our galaxy.

Absolute magnitude for stars and galaxies (M)

In stellar and galactic astronomy, the standard distance is 10 parsecs (about 32.616 light years, or 3 × 10¹⁴ kilometres). A star at ten parsecs has a parallax of 0.1" (100 milli arc seconds).
In defining absolute magnitude it's necessary to specify the type of electromagnetic radiation being measured. When referring to total energy output, the proper term is bolometric magnitude. The bolometric magnitude can be computed from the visual magnitude plus a bolometric correction,

M_ = -11.02!,

ť :: (Actual approximately -11.0) The diffuse reflector formula does better for smaller phases.

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