Labels:text | screenshot OCR: APPARENT MAGNITUDE WHEN WE LOOK at the stars in the night sky, some appear brighter than others. Astronomers use a scale of brightness called the apparent-magnitude scale to describe how bright a star appears from the Earth. The stars were first classified in this way by Greek astronomer Hipparchus in the 2nd century BC. His scale was later extended to include brighter and dimmer celestial objects. Sirius THE SUN VENUS SIRIUS ANDROMEDA GALAXY STAR BRIGHT Sirius, in the constellation of Canis Major, has an apparent -26.72 magnitude of -1.47. It appears 4 -1.47 +6 as the brightest star in the sky. THE MAGNITUDE SCALE Celestial objects that appear bright from the Earth have a low number on the magnitude scale; dimmer objects have a higher number. FACT FILE
