8. Apparent Brightness VS. Absolute
Brightness
Absolute magnitude measures of how bright
a star would be if it were seen from a
standard distance ( 32.58 light years)
Apparent magnitude measures the
brightness of the star observed from any
point (Earth)
9. Do you think the size of the star affects the
brightness of it as seen from Earth? Why do you
say so?
10. If Betelgeuse, a very bright star in the night sky which actually
shines 100,000 times and 400,000 times bigger than our Sun,
why does it seem like our Sun shines brighter and is bigger
than it?
The sun is a normal star. It is much closer to us than any other star, and by studying the sun, we can therefore learn more about other stars. The better we understand other stars, the more we know about the Milky Way.
the more distant an object is, the fainter its apparent brightness becomes as the square of the distance
All the stars we see in the night sky are at vast distances from us but some are much closer relatively than others. For two stars of identical size and temperature, the closer one to us will appear brighter.
