An investigation of limiting magnitude determination : a pilot study

Abstract

Three methods for determining the stellar limiting magnitude are compared: counting the stars in a predesignated area, looking for the faintest star using direct vision, and looking for the faintest star using averted vision. Concerning the latter two methods, averted vision yields significantly better limiting magnitudes than direct vision, as may have been expected. Furthermore, the results of the averted vision method and the "star count" method are comparable, indicating that observers tend to use this method with averted vision. Obviously, there is a need to make explicit which viewing technique must be used for determining the limiting magnitude.