m-m is the difference between magnitudes of a star measured at 2 different distances
m-m = 5log(d/D)
Now lets define absolute magnitude
-Let M represent absolute magnitude
-We pick the distance of 10 parsecs to be the distance associated with M (D=10pc)
m-M = 5log(d/10)
or
m-M = 5log(d)-5
m-M is also called distance modulus
Just get me out in the night time sky and I'll find the distance of any star for you. :)
you are SO smart!!! change major to astronomy??
ReplyDeleteI'm always surprised when I see the word "parsec" in the real world because I think it's some funny word they made up to use in Star Wars. By the way, this was the hardest-to-read post ever; I understand so few of those words...
ReplyDeleteGross. That sounds like math to me.
ReplyDelete