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A capital M giving intrinsic brightness.
Also known as: Intrinsic magnitude, Standard distance magnitude
The notation giving how bright an object would appear at a standard distance, so that objects can be compared.
Gives how bright an object would appear at a standard distance of ten parsecs.
Contexts: History
Differs from the apparent magnitude the catalogue already holds only by a lower-case against a capital letter, so the two most easily confused quantities in observational astronomy are distinguished by letter case alone.
Contexts: History
A capital letter M with a subscript naming the passband, followed by a number.