Greek Astronomers & Telescopes: Determining Magnitude & Brightness

[skiboka33]

I was asked in a problem to guess how Greek astronomers used 2 telescopes (and no CCDs) to determine that stars with magnitudes 1 and 6 differed in brightness by 100x

My idea was to use different size telescopes to bring the images to the same magnitude in the eyepiec, am i on the right track?

 

[Labguy]

I was asked in a problem to guess how Greek astronomers used 2 telescopes (and no CCDs) to determine that stars with magnitudes 1 and 6 differed in brightness by 100x

My idea was to use different size telescopes to bring the images to the same magnitude in the eyepiec, am i on the right track?

Not even close.
(1) Greek astronomers didn't have telescopes.
(2) The magnitude system of 5 magnitudes being a difference of 100 times in brightness was "decided" on (consensus) in the late 1800's.

 

[skiboka33]

Sorry, what I meant to say was that Greek astronomers devised the magnitued system and later the astronomer Herschel determined that 2 stars with magnitudes 1 and 6 differend in brightness by 100 times. (My prof gave a hint that he used 2 telescopes to do this)

 

[SpaceTiger]

The magnitude system was originally created to be an apparent "brightness" that was determined by eye. Since the eye has a logarithmic response, this eventually translated into the logarithmic brightness system. The magnitudes were assigned long before the system had been formally implemented.

My idea was to use different size telescopes to bring the images to the same magnitude in the eyepiec, am i on the right track?

Yes, though try to be a bit more specific about what you mean by the "size" of the telescopes.

 

[Labguy]

Decent explanation can be found here.