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For the colorant reference database, see Colour Index International.

In astronomy, the colour index is a simple numerical expression that determines the colour of an object, which in the case of a star gives its temperature. To measure the index, one observes the magnitude of an object successively through two different filters, such as U and B, or B and V, where U is sensitive to ultraviolet rays, B is sensitive to blue light, and V is sensitive to visible (green-yellow) light (see also: UBV system). The set of passbands or filters is called a photometric system. The difference in magnitudes found with these filters is called the U-B or B-V colour index, respectively. The smaller the colour index, the more blue (or hotter) the object is. Conversely, the larger the colour index, the more red (or cooler) the object is. This is a consequence of the logarithmic magnitude scale, in which brighter objects have smaller (more negative) magnitudes than dimmer ones. For comparison, the yellowish Sun has a B-V index of 0.656±0.005^[1], while the blueish Rigel has B-V -0.03 (its B magnitude is 0.09 and its V magnitude is 0.12, B-V=-0.03).^[2]

Colour indices of distant objects are usually affected by interstellar extinction —i.e. they are redder than those of closer stars. The amount of reddening is characterized by colour excess, defined as the difference between the Observed colour index and the Normal colour index, the hypothetical true colour index of the star, unaffected by extinction.

The passbands most optical astronomers use are the UBVRI filters, where the U, B, and V filters are as mentioned above, the R filter passes red light, and the I filter passes infrared light. This system of filters is sometimes called the Johnson-Cousins filter system, named after the originators of the system (see references). These filters were specified as particular combinations of glass filters and photomultiplier tubes. M. S. Bessel specified a set of filter transmissions for a flat response detector, thus quantifying the calculation of the colour indices. For precision, appropriate pairs of filters are chosen depending on the object's colour temperature: B-V are for mid-range objects, U-V for hotter objects, and R-I for cool ones.

[edit] References

• Johnson, H. L. and Morgan, ApJ 117, 313 (1953)
• Cousins, A. W. J., MNRAS 166, 711 (1974)
• Cousins, A. W. J., MNASSA 33, 149 (1974)
• Bessell, M. S., PASP 102, 1181 (1990)

[edit] Note

1. ↑  The Simbad Astronomical Database' Rigel page
2. ↑  David F. Gray (1992), The Inferred Color Index of the Sun, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, vol. 104, no. 681, pp. 1035-1038 (November 1992)

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