Bolometric magnitude

Bolometric magnitude, or bolometric luminosity, is the total magnitude of all electromagnetic radiation of a star or other object. It is an extension of luminosity to include all kinds of radiation.

Bolometric Magnitude Media

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  The phase angle \alpha can be calculated from the distances body-sun, observer-sun and observer-body, using the law of cosines.

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  Diffuse reflection on sphere and flat disk

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  Brightness with phase for diffuse reflection models. The sphere is 2/3 as bright at zero phase, while the disk can't be seen beyond 90 degrees.

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  Asteroid 1 Ceres, imaged by the Dawn spacecraft at phase angles of 0°, 7° and 33°. The strong difference in brightness between the three is real. The left image at 0° phase angle shows the brightness surge due to the opposition effect.

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  Phase integrals for various values of G

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  Relationship between the slope parameter G and the opposition surge. Larger values of G correspond to a less pronounced opposition effect. For most asteroids, a value of G = 0.15 is assumed, corresponding to an opposition surge of 0.3\text{ mag}.