There are two types of magnitude:

* Apparent magnitude: This is how bright a star appears to us from Earth. It's influenced by the star's actual luminosity, its distance from us, and any intervening dust or gas that might absorb light.

* Absolute magnitude: This is a measure of the star's intrinsic brightness, as if it were located at a standard distance of 10 parsecs (about 32.6 light-years) away.

It's important to note that the magnitude scale is backwards: smaller numbers represent brighter stars. So, a star with an apparent magnitude of 1 is brighter than a star with an apparent magnitude of 2.