Good evening all,
I am working on a PowerPoint presentation for my Astronomy class about planet Earth - my question is: What is Earth's brightest apparent magnitude (if it has one)?
I have searched every reliable source I know of (and that I come across), but I cannot seem to find a "convincing" answer. I have determined the definition of brightest apparent magnitude to be how bright a star/celestial body appears to be from Earth, so I do not see how Earth would have one - still, my teacher proposed this answer should be a number for this. I came up with an answer of either the Sun or Sirius (with their respective numbers), but that does not seem to fit the answer my teacher is looking for.
Help is greatly appreciated.
Good evening! I understand your confusion regarding Earth's brightest apparent magnitude. You are correct in thinking that the concept of apparent magnitude applies to stars and celestial bodies seen from Earth, rather than Earth itself. Earth is not typically considered to have an apparent magnitude since it is the reference point from which the apparent magnitudes of other celestial objects are measured.
However, given your teacher's request, there might be a way to approach this question differently. If you interpret the question as asking about the brightest object in the sky as seen from Earth, then the answer would indeed be the Sun. The Sun has an apparent magnitude of about -26.74, making it by far the brightest object in our sky.
As for Sirius, it is indeed one of the brightest stars in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of -1.46. It is often referred to as the "Brightest Star" even though it is not the absolute brightest, as the Sun significantly outshines it.
To summarize, if your teacher is asking for the brightest object in the sky as seen from Earth, the correct answer would be the Sun. However, if your teacher is specifically asking for a celestial body other than the Sun, then Sirius, with its apparent magnitude of -1.46, would be the closest answer.
I hope this helps clarify the situation for your presentation. Let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with!