The sloping line to the right in Figure 10 represents the limits
of the observations, for, from a study of the plates themselves,
it appeared improbable that stars fainter than about 19.5 could be
detected with certainty on a nebulous background. Points representing
nebulae in which individual stars could not be found should lie in this
excluded region above the line, and their scatter is presumably
comparable with that of the points actually determined below the line.
When allowance is made for this inaccessible region, the data can be
interpreted as showing a moderate dispersion around the mean ordinate
$m_{s} - m_{T} = 9.0.$ (7)
The range in total magnitudes is sufficiently large in comparison with
the dispersion to lend considerable confidence to the conclusion. The
total range of four, and the average dispersion of less than 1 mag.,
are comparable with those in Table XV and in Figure 7, and agree with
the former in indicating a constant order of absolute magnitude.
The mean absolute magnitude of the brightest stars in the nebulae
listed in Table XV, combined with the mean difference between nebulae
and their brightest stars, furnishes a mean absolute magnitude of –15.3
for the nebulae listed in Table XVI. This differs by only 0.2 mag. from
the average of the nebulae in Table XV, and the mean of the two, –15.2,
can be used as the absolute magnitude of intermediate- and late-type
spirals and irregular nebulae whose apparent magnitudes are brighter
than 10.5. The dispersion is small and can safely be neglected in
statistical investigations.
This is as far as the positive evidence can be followed. For reasons
already given, however, it is presumed that the earlier nebulae,
the elliptical and the early-type spirals, are of the same order of
absolute magnitude as the later. The one elliptical nebula whose
distance is known, M 32, is consistent with this hypothesis.
Conclusions concerning the intrinsic luminosities of the apparently
fainter nebulae are in the nature of extrapolations of the results
found for the brighter objects. When the nebulae are reduced to a
standard type, they are found to be constructed on a single model,
with the total luminosities varying directly as the square of the
diameters. The most general interpretation of this relation is that the
mean surface brightness is constant, but the small range in absolute
magnitudes among the brighter nebulae indicates that, among these
objects at least, the relation merely expresses the operation of the
inverse-square law on comparable objects distributed at different
distances. The actual observed range covered by this restricted
interpretation is from apparent magnitude 0.5 to 10.5. The
homogeneity of the correlation diagrams and the complete absence of
evidence to the contrary justify the extrapolation of the restricted
interpretation to cover the 2 or 3 mag. beyond the limits of actual
observation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account