ASTR-122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Volcanic Crater, Chromosphere, Chasma
8 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
A scale for measuring the actual brightness of a celestial object without accounting for the distance of the object. Absolute magnitude measures how bright an object would appear if it were exactly 10 parsecs (about 33 light-years) away from earth. On this scale, the sun has an absolute magnitude of +4. 8 while it has an apparent magnitude of -26. 7 because it is so close. The temperature at which the motion of all atoms and molecules stops and no heat is given off. Absolute zero is reached at 0 degrees kelvin or -273. 16 degrees celsius. A process by where the atmosphere melts away and removes the surface material of an incoming meteorite. The process by where dust and gas accumulated into larger bodies such as stars and planets. A disk of gas that accumulates around a center of gravitational attraction, such as a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole.
