Scribd
Upload
292 views

Chapter 28star - Magnitude - Worksheet

Absolute magnitude is a measure of a star's true brightness while apparent magnitude is how bright it appears from Earth. Absolute magnitude is determined by placing stars 32.6 light years away, while apparent magnitude is affected by the star's distance. The brightest star in the night sky is Sirius in Canis Major, with an apparent magnitude of -1.46. The closest star is Procyon at 11 light years while the farthest is Deneb at 1500 light years.

Uploaded by

Shakia Murphy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
292 views

Chapter 28star - Magnitude - Worksheet

Absolute magnitude is a measure of a star's true brightness while apparent magnitude is how bright it appears from Earth. Absolute magnitude is determined by placing stars 32.6 light years away, while apparent magnitude is affected by the star's distance. The brightest star in the night sky is Sirius in Canis Major, with an apparent magnitude of -1.46. The closest star is Procyon at 11 light years while the farthest is Deneb at 1500 light years.

Uploaded by

Shakia Murphy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Chapter 28 – Star Magnitudes Worksheet

Name ___________________________ Earth Science

Absolute Magnitude is a measure of the true brightness or luminosity of a star. The absolute magnitude value is
determined by placing stars a distance of 32.6 LY from the Earth. The stars are then ranked according to their
luminosity. The lower the absolute magnitude value the brighter the star. Apparent magnitude is a measure of the
brightness of a star as viewed from Earth. The apparent magnitude is how we see the stars in the night sky. Again, the
lower the apparent magnitude value of a star the brighter the star. The distance the star is from the Earth will affect the
apparent magnitude of the star.

Rank Star Absolute Magnitude Apparent Distance from Earth


Magnitude (light-years)
_______ Sun +4.8 -26.72 ______

1 Sirius(in Canis Major) +1.4 -1.46 8.6

2 Canopus(in Carina) -2.5 -0.72 74

3 Rigel Kentaurus (Alpha +4.4 -0.27 4.3


Centauri) in Centaurus
4 Arcturus (in Bootes) +0.2 -0.04 34

5 Vega(in Lyra) +0.6 +0.03 25

6 Capella (in Auriga) +0.4 +0.08 41

7. Rigel (in Orion) -8.1 +0.12 900

8 Procyon (in Canis Minor) +2.8 +0.38 11

9 Archenar (in Eridanus) -1.3 +0.46 75

10 Betelgeuse(in Orion) -7.2 +0.50 643

11 Hadar (in Centaurus) -4.3 +0.61 300

12 Altair (in Aquila) +2.3 +0.77 17

13 Acrux (in Crux) -3.8 +0.79 270

14 Aldebaran (in Taurus) -0.2 +0.85 65

15 Antares (in Scorpius) -4.5 +0.96 400

16 Deneb (in Cygnus) -7.2 +1.25 1500


Chapter 28 – Star Magnitude Worksheet
Name _________________________ Block ______ Date ___________ Earth Science

Use the table to answer the following questions.


1. What is the difference between absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the brightest star in the night sky (not the sun)? ________________________________
3. What is the apparent magnitude of the brightest star (not the sun)? _______________________
4. The closest star to the Earth is _________________ at a distance of _____________ light years.
5. The farthest star from the Earth is _______________ at a distance of ____________ light years.
6. What is the faintest star in the night sky? __________________________________
7. Using absolute magnitude, what star is the brightest? ________________________
8. Name the two stars that are found in the constellation Orion?
_____________________ and ___________________
9. Which star is brighter in the night sky Arcturus or Antares? ________________________________
10. Which star has a lower absolute magnitude value Arcturus or Capella? ________________ Which star
would be brighter? ______________________
11. Which constellation has the brightest star in the night sky? ___________________________
12. Which star is brighter in the night sky Sirius or Deneb? ____________________
13. Rank the following stars in order from brightest (1) to dimmest (6) using apparent magnitude.
_______Vega
_______Archenar
_______Arcturus
_______Hadar
_______Canopus
_______Procyon

You might also like