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Absolute magnitude is the measure of intrinsic brightness of a celestial object. It is the hypothetical apparent magnitude of an object at a standard distance of exactly 10.0 parsecs (32.6 light years) from the observer, assuming no astronomical extinction of starlight. This places the objects on a common basis and allows the true energy output of astronomical objects to be compared without the distortion introduced by distance. As with all astronomical magnitudes, the absolute magnitude can be specified for different wavelength intervals; for stars the most commonly quoted absolute magnitude is the absolute visual magnitude, which uses only the visual (V) band of the spectrum (UBV system). Also commonly used is the absolute bolometric magnitude, which is the total luminosity expressed in magnitude units that takes into account energy radiated at all wavelengths, whether visible or not. The absolute magnitude is similar to visual magnitude (correctly called apparent magnitude) where a difference of 5 in absolute magnitude corresponds to a factor of 100 in brightness, whereas for apparent magnitude a difference of one in magnitude corresponds to a factor of two in apparent brightness. In terms of absolute magnitude, the brighter the object the smaller its magnitude and so on into the negative range with increasing brightness. Similarly for apparent magnitude, but the range devised by the Greeks that used the naked eye assigned magnitude one for the brightest stars, and magnitude six for the dimmest. For absolute magnitude, a difference of 1.0 in magnitude corresponds to a ratio of 2.512 ≈ 100.4 of absolute brightness. The Milky Way, for example, has an absolute magnitude of about −20.5, so a quasar with an absolute magnitude of −25.5 is 100 times brighter than the Milky Way. If this particular quasar and the Milky Way could be seen side by side at the same distance of one parsec and the Milky Way's stars reduced to a single point, the quasar would be 5 magnitudes (or 100 times) brighter than the Milky Way. Similarly, Canopus has an absolute visual magnitude of about −5.5, whereas Ross 248 has an absolute visual magnitude of +14.8, for a difference of about 20 magnitudes, i.e., Canopus would be seen as about 20 magnitudes brighter; stated another way, Canopus emits more than 100 million (108) times more visual power than Ross 248. == Stars and galaxies (''M'') == In stellar and galactic astronomy, the standard distance is 10 parsecs (about 32.616 light years, 308.57 petameters or 308.57 trillion kilometres). A star at 10 parsecs has a parallax of 0.1" (100 milli arc seconds). Galaxies (and other extended objects) are much larger than 10 parsecs, their light is radiated over an extended patch of sky, and their overall brightness cannot be directly observed from relatively short distances, but the same convention is used. A galaxy's magnitude is defined by measuring all the light radiated over the entire object, treating that integrated brightness as the brightness of a single point-like or star-like source, and computing the magnitude of that point-like source as it would appear if observed at the standard 10 parsecs distance. Consequently, the absolute magnitude of any object ''equals'' the apparent magnitude it ''would have'' if it were 10 parsecs away. The measurement of absolute magnitude is made with an instrument called a bolometer. When using an absolute magnitude, one must specify the type of electromagnetic radiation being measured. When referring to total energy output, the proper term is bolometric magnitude. The bolometric magnitude usually is computed from the visual magnitude plus a bolometric correction, . This correction is needed because very hot stars radiate mostly ultraviolet radiation, whereas very cool stars radiate mostly infrared radiation (see Planck's law). Many stars visible to the naked eye have such a low absolute magnitude that they would appear bright enough to cast shadows if they were at 10 parsecs from the Earth: Rigel (−7.0), Deneb (−7.2), Naos (−6.0), and Betelgeuse (−5.6). For comparison, Sirius has an absolute magnitude of 1.4, which is brighter than the Sun, whose absolute visual magnitude is 4.83 (it actually serves as a reference point). The Sun's absolute bolometric magnitude is set arbitrarily, usually at 4.75.〔 〕〔 〕 Absolute magnitudes of stars generally range from −10 to +17. The absolute magnitudes of galaxies can be much lower (brighter). For example, the giant elliptical galaxy M87 has an absolute magnitude of −22 (i.e. as bright as about 60,000 stars of magnitude −10). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Absolute magnitude」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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