Department of Natural Science
Edgewood College
Madison, Wisconsin
Star Magnitude Table
|
Magnitude |
Range |
Number of Stars |
Cumulative |
%
Increase in |
|
-1.50 to -0.51 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
-0.50 to +0.49 |
6 |
8 |
400% |
|
|
+0.50 to +1.49 |
14 |
22 |
275% |
|
|
2 |
+1.50 to +2.49 |
71 |
93 |
423% |
|
3 |
+2.50 to +3.49 |
190 |
283 |
304% |
|
4 |
+3.50 to +4.49 |
610 |
893 |
316% |
|
5 |
+4.50 to +5.49 |
1,929 |
2,822 |
316% |
|
6 |
+5.50 to +6.49 |
5,946 |
8,768 |
311% |
|
7 |
+6.50 to +7.49 |
17,765 |
26,533 |
303% |
|
8 |
+7.50 to +8.49 |
51,094 |
77,627 |
293% |
|
9 |
+8.50 to +9.49 |
140,062 |
217,689 |
280% |
|
10 |
+9.50 to +10.49 |
409,194 |
626,883 |
288% |
|
11 |
+10.50 to +11.49 |
1,196,690 |
1,823,573 |
291% |
|
12 |
+11.50 to +12.49 |
3,481,113 |
5,304,685 |
291% |
|
13 |
+12.50 to +13.49 |
10,126,390 |
15,431,076 |
291% |
|
14 |
+13.50 to +14.49 |
29,457,184 |
44,888,260 |
291% |
|
15 |
+14.50 to +15.49 |
85,689,537 |
130,577,797 |
291% |
|
16 |
+15.50 to +16.49 |
249,266,759 |
379,844,556 |
291% |
|
17 |
+16.50 to +17.49 |
725,105,060 |
1,104,949,615 |
291% |
|
18 |
+17.50 to +18.49 |
2,109,295,881 |
3,214,245,496 |
291% |
|
19 |
+18.50 to +19.49 |
6,135,840,666 |
9,350,086,162 |
291% |
|
20 |
+19.50 to +20.49 |
17,848,866,544 |
27,198,952,706 |
291% |
On the average when you can increase the faintest stars you can observer by one magnitude fainter you can observer about three times (3X) more stars. For example, if can observer magnitude 2 stars in the city and can observer magnitude 3 at your home you should be able to see three time more stars at your home. If you go to a star party where you can see magnitude 5 stars you should see about 27 times more stars at the star party as compared to observing in the city (magnitude 2 to 3 is about 3x, magnitude 3 to 4 is about 3x, and magnitude 4 to 5 is about 3x for total of 3x3x3=27).
The number of stars in the table are for the complete sky. Under ideal conditions an observer can only see one half of the sky at any time. Also the stars are not evenly distriubuted across the sky. Some parts of the sky have more stars per unit sky area than others parts of the sky.