Magnitude meaning

Magnitude is defined as large in size or very important.

(geology) A measure of the amount of energy released by an earthquake, as indicated on the Richter scale.

(geol.) A measure of the amount of energy released by an earthquake.

(math.) A number given to a quantity for purposes of comparison with other quantities of the same class.

(astron.) A number representing the apparent brightness of a celestial body: originally a number in a scale of values 1-6 and applied only to objects (excluding the sun and moon) visible to the naked eye, with the brightest stars at c. 1.5 (1 is the first magnitude) and stars at c. 6 (sixth magnitude) being barely visible, the scale now includes the sun (at −26.7) and moon (c. −12.7 when full) as well as the faintest objects visible telescopically (c. 36): each increase of one magnitude represents an increase of 2.512 times the brightness.

Greatness.

A measure of the total amount of energy released by an earthquake, as indicated on the Richter scale.

The degree of brightness of a star or other celestial body, measured on a logarithmic scale in which lower numbers mean greater brightness, such that a decrease of one unit represents an increase in brightness by a factor of 2.512. An object that is 5 units less than another object on the magnitude scale is 100 times more luminous. Because of refinements in measurement after the zero point was assigned, very bright objects have negative magnitudes. &diamf3; The brightness of a celestial body as seen from Earth is called its apparent magnitude . (When unspecified, an object's magnitude is normally assumed to be its apparent magnitude.) The dimmest stars visible to the unaided eye have apparent magnitude 6, while the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, has apparent magnitude −1.4. The full Moon and the Sun have apparent magnitudes of −12.7 and −26.8 respectively. &diamf3; The brightness of a celestial body computed as if viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs (32.6 light-years) is called its absolute magnitude . Absolute magnitude measures the intrinsic brightness of a celestial object rather than how bright it appears on Earth, using the same logarithmic scale as for apparent magnitude. Sirius has an absolute magnitude of 1.5, considerably dimmer than Rigel which, though its apparent magnitude is 0.12, has an absolute magnitude of −8.1. Stars that appear dim in the night sky but have bright absolute magnitudes are much farther from Earth than stars that shine brightly at night but have relatively dim absolute magnitudes. The Sun, a star of only medium brightness, has an absolute magnitude of 4.8. &diamf3; The degree of total radiation emitted by a celestial body, including all infrared and ultraviolet radiation in addition to visible light, is called its bolometric magnitude . Bolometric magnitude is generally measured by applying a standard correction to an object's absolute magnitude.

(countable) An order of magnitude.