When observers look out at the night sky, the number of stars with
A) each magnitude (first, second, etc.) is about the same.
B) smaller magnitude numbers is much larger than the number of stars with larger magnitude numbers.
C) larger magnitude numbers is much larger than the number of stars with smaller magnitude numbers.
D) magnitudes around 3 is larger than either the number with magnitudes around 2 or the number with magnitudes around 4.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The magnitude scale is a logarithmic scale where lower numbers indicate brighter objects and higher numbers indicate fainter objects. There are far more faint stars (larger magnitude numbers) in the sky than there are bright stars (smaller magnitude numbers), making option C correct.

When Observers Look Out at the Night Sky, the Number