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Re: (meteorobs) Limiting Magnitude
In a message dated 1/16/00 2:43:03 PM Eastern Standard Time, excel@sioldot net
writes:
<< I actually have no idea where that +6.5 figure came from,
but from my experience LM +6.5 is in the 'good' range,
with +6.8 and better being excellent. >>
I've seen this number in print (I don't know if I can pull up the article at
this moment). I believe it is the average magnitude that a human eye can see.
I think it has to do with the dilation of the pupil. Of course it says (and
makes sense to me) that younger eyes can see better than older.
But limiting Magnitude depends not only on eyesight but the transparency and
seeing of the sky. This is a very subjective number and 2 people at the same
observing site can have different LM numbers. For example I always see a few
10's of a magnitude than my observing partner Wayne. Just ages and our
individual eyesight differences.
Kevin K
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