Astronomical Visual Limiting Magnitude Calculation

Larry Bogan
Cambridge Station, N.S.
Note: This page is a Java Script version of a BASIC program written by
Bradley E. Schaefer
in
"To the Visual Limits"
page 57 of the May 1998 issue of
Sky and Telescope

The magnitude of the dimmest star visible to the unaided eye is calculated from conditions specified in the form below. This number depends on the location and phase of the Moon, the location of Sun, the humidity, your location and height as well as the zenith angle of the star of interest. Try various imput parameters to observe the effects of each variable. For more details see the reference sited above.

Intermediate results are presented in the tables at the bottom. Atmospheric extinction and brightness as well as air mass are given

== DATE ==
Month Number Year
== PHASE OF THE MOON ==
New Cresent Quarter Gibbous Full
=====================================
ANGULAR POSITIONS OF SUN AND MOON

Zenith Distance Elongation to Star
MOON degrees
SUN degrees
Relative Humidity percent
Air Temperature Celcius
Latitude degrees
Altitude metres
Snellen Ratio 20/20=1: 20/10=2
Star's Zenith Distance degrees


RESULTS

Sky Brightness: nanolamberts
Visual Magnitude: magnitudes

Supplemental Results

AIRMASS
GAS AEROSOL OZONE
Extinction and Sky Brightness

U B V R I
Extinction Coefficient magnitude/air mass
Extinction magnitude
Sky Brighness picoergs/cm2/micron/"arc

==============================
FROM "ASTRONOMICAL COMPUTING"
SKY & TELESCOPE, MAY 1998 page 52
'To the Visual Limits'
by Bradley E. Schaefer
=============================
Corrected with the aide of
Victor Reijs
and David Fisher