The initial magnitude scale was established by Greek astronomer Hipparchus around 135 B.C.E., categorizing approximately 850 stars into six ranges from 1st (brightest) to 6th (faintest) magnitude.

The Big Dipper, an asterism within the Ursa Major constellation, is readily observable from mid-to-high northern latitudes and its appearance varies throughout the year due to Earth's orbit and ...

Astronomers, both professional and amateur, are obsessed with stellar magnitudes. For professional astronomers, stellar ...

The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) has released the Fourth Edition of its USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC4), the most precise and comprehensive star catalog ever produced by ground-based ...