What term refers to how bright a star appears from Earth?

The term that describes how bright a star appears from Earth is "apparent magnitude." This concept takes into account the distance of the star from Earth and how its light reaches us. Apparent magnitude reflects the intensity of the light that is observed from our planet, and it is influenced by factors such as the star's intrinsic brightness and any intervening dust or gas in space that may dim its light.

While luminosity refers to the total amount of energy a star emits per second, and absolute magnitude describes the brightness of a star as if it were located at a standard distance of 10 parsecs from Earth, these terms do not directly measure the brightness perceived from our specific location. Reflective magnitude is not a standard term in astronomy, further emphasizing the accuracy of "apparent magnitude" in this context. It specifically answers the question of how a star's brightness is perceived from Earth, rather than its actual luminosity or brightness at a standardized distance.