Solar System Bodies (H)
For planets, comets and asteroids a different definition of absolute magnitude is used which is more meaningful for nonstellar objects.
In this case, the absolute magnitude is defined as the apparent magnitude that the object would have if it were one astronomical unit (AU) from both the Sun and the observer. Because the object is illuminated by the Sun, absolute magnitude is a function of phase angle and this relationship is referred to as the phase curve.
To convert a stellar or galactic absolute magnitude into a planetary one, subtract 31.57.
Read more about this topic: Absolute Magnitude
Famous quotes containing the words solar, system and/or bodies:
“Lincoln becomes the American solar myth, the chief butt of American credulity and sentimentality.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“Hence, a generative grammar must be a system of rules that can iterate to generate an indefinitely large number of structures. This system of rules can be analyzed into the three major components of a generative grammar: the syntactic, phonological, and semantic components.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“Hear me, auld Hangie, for a wee,
An’ let poor, damned bodies bee;
I’m sure sma’ pleasure it can gie,
Ev’n to a deil,
To skelp an’ scaud poor dogs like me,
An’ hear us squeel!”
—Robert Burns (1759–1796)