The answer is no, higher magnitude does not mean brighter. It actually means dimmer.
The magnitude system is a way of measuring the brightness of celestial objects, like stars. It's a bit counterintuitive, but a higher magnitude number represents a fainter object.
Here's why:
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Historical Origins: The system originated with the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who categorized stars by their apparent brightness. The brightest stars were assigned a magnitude of 1, while the faintest visible stars were assigned a magnitude of 6.
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Logarithmic Scale: The magnitude scale is logarithmic, meaning that a difference of one magnitude corresponds to a brightness ratio of about 2.512. This means a star with a magnitude of 2 is about 2.512 times brighter than a star with a magnitude of 3, and about 6.3 times brighter than a star with a magnitude of 4.
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Negative Magnitudes: The system also includes negative magnitudes for extremely bright objects. For example, the Sun has a magnitude of -26.74, while the full moon has a magnitude of -12.74.
Example:
- A star with a magnitude of 1 is brighter than a star with a magnitude of 2.
- A star with a magnitude of 5 is fainter than a star with a magnitude of 3.
In summary: When talking about astronomical objects, a higher magnitude indicates a fainter object, while a lower magnitude indicates a brighter object.
