Astronomical Magnitudes

Why Can We See the Moon and Planets in Daylight?

By: Mike Luciuk

Several different types of “magnitude” are used in astronomy. Most commonly, apparent magnitudes are used to describe the brightness of stellar and solar system objects while absolute magnitudes are required to assess intrinsic brightness. A method is described to evaluate extended object versus sky brightness to calculate contrast, which explains why we can see Venus in daylight sky. There are specific procedures for calculating absolute magnitudes of … Read the rest “Astronomical Magnitudes”

AAI is celebrating 75 years as an astronomy club! Sperry Observatory is open to the public on Fridays from 7:30 pm - 10:30 pm for observing (weather permitting). A presentation is given at 8:30 pm on an astronomy related topic. Register at the entrance to the Observatory.

X