in brightness, typically , when the object is near opposition. It is known accurately only for a small number of asteroids, hence for most asteroids a value of is assumed. In rare cases, can be negative. An example is 101955 Bennu, with . In 2012, the -system was officially replaced by an improved system with three parameters , and , which produces more satisfactory results if the opposition effect is very small or restricted to very small phase angles. However, as of 2022, this -system has not been adopted by either the Minor Planet Center nor Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The apparent magnitude of asteroids varies as they rotate, on time scales of seconds to weeks depending on their rotation period, by up to or more. In addition, their absolute magnitude can vary with the viewing direction, depending on their axial tilt. In many cases, neither the rotation period nor the axial tilt are known, limiting the predictability. The models presented here do not capture those effects. Cometary magnitudes The brightness of comets is given separately as total magnitude (, the brightness integrated over the entire visible extend of the coma) and nuclear magnitude (, the brightness of the core region alone). Both are different scales than the magnitude scale used for planets and asteroids, and can not be used for a size comparison with an asteroid's absolute magnitude . The activity of comets varies with their distance from the Sun. Their brightness can be approximated as where are the total and nuclear apparent magnitudes of the comet, respectively, are its "absolute" total and nuclear magnitudes, and are the body-sun and body-observer distances, is the Astronomical Unit, and are the slope parameters characterising the comet's activity. For , this reduces to the formula for a purely reflecting body (showing no cometary activity). For example, the lightcurve of comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) can be approximated by On the day of its perihelion passage, 10 March 2013, comet PANSTARRS was from the Sun and from Earth. The total apparent magnitude is predicted to have been at that time. The Minor Planet Center gives a value close to that, . The absolute magnitude of any given comet can vary dramatically. It can change as the comet becomes more or less active over time or if it undergoes an outburst. This makes it difficult to use the absolute magnitude for a size estimate. When comet