What is the Sun's absolute magnitude?

The Sun’s absolute magnitude is 4.83. Absolute magnitude is the brightness an object would appear to have if placed exactly 10 parsecs, or about 32.6 light-years, from the observer.

This scale allows astronomers to compare stars at a common distance. Unlike apparent magnitude, which depends strongly on how far away an object is, absolute magnitude describes a star’s intrinsic brightness. The Sun’s apparent visual magnitude from Earth is about −26.74 because Earth is only one astronomical unit away, so the Sun looks overwhelmingly bright in our sky.

The magnitude scale runs backward: smaller or more negative numbers indicate greater brightness. Thus, the Sun’s absolute magnitude of 4.83 makes it much less luminous than brilliant stars with negative absolute magnitudes, even though it is the dominant light source in our solar system.

Absolute magnitude also depends on the wavelength band being measured. The quoted 4.83 is the Sun’s visual absolute magnitude, commonly written as Mᵥ. Its total energy output across all wavelengths is represented by its bolometric magnitude, which is slightly different. Confusing absolute and apparent magnitude is the main trap in this question.