Worksheet for correcting reddening and extinction
1. Measure observed apparent magnitudes of star in two filters; here, B and V
B = _________
V = _________
2. Calculate observed color (B-V)
(B-V) = __________
3. Observe spectral type of star
spectral type = _________
4. Use spectral type to determine the intrinsic color of the star (B-V)0
(B-V)0 = _________
5. Compute the color excess E(B-V)
E(B-V) = (B-V) - (B-V)0 = ________
6. Using the ratio of selective to total extinction (easy to look
up in reference sites or textbooks) for each filter,
calculate the extinction in each measurement.
AB = 4.1 * E(B-V) = __________
AV = 3.1 * E(B-V) = __________
7. Correct the observed apparent magnitudes by subtracting the extinction
from each one.
corrected B0 = B - AB = _________
corrected V0 = V - AV = _________