magnitude : Idioms & Phrases

Index

absolute magnitude

  • noun (astronomy) the magnitude that a star would have if it were viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs (32.62 light years) from the earth
WordNet

Apparent magnitude

  • (Opt.), the angular breadth of an object viewed as measured by the angle which it subtends at the eye of the observer; called also apparent diameter.
Webster 1913

change magnitude

  • verb change in size or magnitude
WordNet

change of magnitude

  • noun the act of changing the amount or size of something
WordNet

Magnitude of a star

  • (Astron.), the rank of a star with respect to brightness. About twenty very bright stars are said to be of first magnitude, the stars of the sixth magnitude being just visible to the naked eye. Telescopic stars are classified down to the twelfth magnitude or lower. The scale of the magnitudes is quite arbitrary, but by means of photometers, the classification has been made to tenths of a magnitude.
Webster 1913

magnitude relation

  • noun a relation between magnitudes
    quantitative relation.
WordNet

moment magnitude scale

  • noun a logarithmic scale of 1 to 10 (a successor to the Richter scale) that enables seismologists to compare the energy released by different earthquakes on the basis of the area of the geological fault that ruptured in the quake
WordNet

order of magnitude

  • noun a degree in a continuum of size or quantity
    order.
    • it was on the order of a mile
    • an explosion of a low order of magnitude
  • noun a number assigned to the ratio of two quantities; two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other; the number of magnitudes that the quantities differ is specified to within a power of 10
    magnitude.
WordNet