Magnitude to Flux Ratio Calculator

About this calculator

In astronomy, brightness is measured on the magnitude scale, where lower numbers mean brighter objects and each step of 5 magnitudes corresponds to exactly a factor of 100 in actual brightness (flux). The relationship is defined by the Pogson formula: flux ratio = 10^(Δm / 2.5), where Δm is the difference in magnitude between two objects.

This calculator takes a magnitude difference and returns the corresponding flux ratio, so you can see, for example, that a star 1 magnitude brighter than another is about 2.512 times as bright, or that a 5-magnitude difference means one object is exactly 100 times brighter. Astronomy students and amateur astronomers use it to convert between the logarithmic magnitude scale used in star catalogs and the linear brightness ratios that make physical sense intuitively.