Author Question: What types of observations are necessary to determine the absolute luminosity of a star? What ... (Read 41 times)

iveyjurea

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What types of observations are necessary to determine the absolute luminosity of a star?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

The Sun's mass and volume are over a million times that of our Earth.
 
  Indicate whether the statement is true or false



gstein359

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Answer to Question 1

The absolute luminosity of a star, or absolute magnitude, is determined from the apparent magnitude and distance. The apparent magnitude is rather easily measured using a telescope and a photometer. The distance can be much harder to determine. If the star is nearby then its parallax can be measured. If more distant, some other method will have to be used, such as spectroscopic parallax. Spectroscopic parallax will give the absolute magnitude of the star without having to compute distance.

Answer to Question 2

FALSE



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