- Magnitudes only tell us how bright stars appear to us...not how intrinsically bright they are.

Example:

• We have two stars that are exactly the same: they both shine with exactly the same amount of light.

• BUT: One of them is 10 times further than the other.

• That means the further one will send us 10² = 100 times less light.

• 100 times less light means the further star will have be 5 magnitudes dimmer than the closer one.