Why does the star Polaris have a higher absolute magnitude but the Sun has a higher apparent magnitude?

1 Answer
chandramohanPanakkal
Feb 4, 2016

Apparent magnitude is the brightness as seen from earth.
Absolute magnitude is its magnitude at 10 parsecs distance as a standard.

Explanation:

Sun apparent magnitude -26.74 Absolute magnitude 4.63
Polaris apparent magnitude -2.02 Absolute magnitude -3.6
The fact that the Polaris is about 434 light years from us and it is 4000 times brighter than Sun.

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