Is there a scientific name for comparing the difference in brightness of stars?

What I really mean, is there a scientific term for the idea that even though a star can be further away, if it is really bright, it can look closer then a dimmer, closer star

Is there a scientific name for comparing the difference in brightness of stars?
absolute magnitude
Reply:Yes, that is the exact definition of Absolute Magnitude. That is the actually brightness of a star, not as viewed from earth. As viewed from earth is apparent magnitude and, like you said, it could look dimmer if its farther away. Kind of like how the sun is looks like the brightest star, but is actually pretty average.
Reply:The idea doesn't have a name, but the concept of absolute magnitude takes this into account. Apparent magnitude is the brightness of a star as seen from earth. Absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star as seen from a standard distance (10 parsecs/32.6 light-years). If we know a star's apparent magnitude and distance, we can calculate its absolute magnitude.
Reply:Since distances reduce the brightness, the standard distance is used in absolute magnitude.That is all stars are kept at 32.6LY(10 parsec)and compared.This is different from what we actually see.





There is also variable star observation where we compare the changing brightness over time
Reply:The term for how bright a star appears is Magnitude, and is a relative scale with the brightest star (Sirius) being assigned a magnitude of 1 and the dimmest star you can see without a lens on a clear country night being about a magnitude 5 or so. Scientists have ways of determining distance and type of star from the spectrum of the light being generated, among other tools, so they can get a pretty good idea of how much light leaves the star initially compared to how much actually gets here.
Reply:There's no specific name for comparing stars' brightness, but the most easily understood scale that compares stellar brightness is called "apparent magnitude," which is how bright the star appears to us on Earth. That scale is kind of backwards, meaning that the *smaller* the number the brighter the star. For example, a star with apparent magnitude of 2 is brighter than one with an apparent magnitude of 6.





FYI...our sun has an apparent magnitude of minus 26, which makes it the brightest star we can see from Earth.