Question 1402Navigation General

The correct answer is A) 2.5 times as bright as a second magnitude star. The brightness of stars is measured on a magnitude scale, where lower magnitude numbers indicate brighter stars. A first magnitude star is 2.5 times brighter than a second magnitude star. This is because the magnitude scale is logarithmic, with each decrease in magnitude by 1 corresponding to a 2.5-fold increase in brightness. The other options are incorrect because they do not accurately reflect the relationship between first and second magnitude stars. For example, options B, C, and D would imply a linear, rather than logarithmic, relationship between magnitudes, which is not accurate.