- #1
StephenPrivitera
- 363
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A star was measured to have an apparent magnitude m=16 with S/N=10 integrated over a minute. What is the uncertainty in the measurement?
signal=flux*area*time
noise=sqrt(signal)=sqrt(fAt)
So, S/N=sqrt(fAt)
How can I find fA?
m=-2.5logfAt+K
16=-2.5log(fAt)+K
Hoping that K is arbitrary (please verify this), I choose K=0
Then 16=-2.5log(fAt)
So fA=3.98 e-7 J/s (units inconsequential)
So, uncertainty =6.3 e-4
??
HELP!
edit:
Or, I can get N=uncertainty=sqrt(S/10)=sqrtS <--- something VERY wrong here
signal=flux*area*time
noise=sqrt(signal)=sqrt(fAt)
So, S/N=sqrt(fAt)
How can I find fA?
m=-2.5logfAt+K
16=-2.5log(fAt)+K
Hoping that K is arbitrary (please verify this), I choose K=0
Then 16=-2.5log(fAt)
So fA=3.98 e-7 J/s (units inconsequential)
So, uncertainty =6.3 e-4
??
HELP!
edit:
Or, I can get N=uncertainty=sqrt(S/10)=sqrtS <--- something VERY wrong here
Last edited: