Re: Calculation of apparent magnitude from apparent brightness

Posted by karenacollins on Jul 14, 2024; 10:50pm
URL: http://astroimagej.170.s1.nabble.com/Calculation-of-apparent-magnitude-from-apparent-brightness-tp2475p2479.html

I expect that the textbooks are referring to some ideal measurement of flux F. I think there are many things other than texp and telescope area that are related to the measurement, such has how much dust is on your telescope's mirrors and other optical path surfaces, any filters you are using, the quantum efficiency of your detector across all wavelengths, the airmass you are observing through, and probably many other things that don't come to mind right away. This is why we adopted the differential approach.

That said, I have limited experience observing for purposes of measuring apparent magnitude. We have many other experienced users on the message board, so I invite others to chime in to clarify or correct any of my assertions above, and/or elucidate how apparent magnitudes are measured in other tools.

Karen