A method of obtaining bolometric corrections ($BC_{ \rm V}$) from observed high-resolution, high-$S/N$ spectra is described. The method is applied to spectra of 128 stars collected from the literature with well-determined effective temperatures ($T_{ \rm eff}$) with $S_\lambda(V)$ transparency profiles of Bessell and Landolt. Computed $BC_{ \rm V}$ are found accurate within several milimagnitudes and the effect of different $S_\lambda(V)$ is found to be no more than 0.015 mag. Measured visual to bolometric ratio ($L_{ \rm V}/L$) from the sample spectra and classically determined $BC_{ \rm V}$ from bolometric ($M_{ \rm Bol}$) and visual ($M_{ \rm V}$) absolute magnitudes helped us to determine the zero-point constant ($C_{ \rm 2}$) of the $BC_{ \rm V}$ scale. Determined $C_{ \rm 2}$ for each star for each $S_\lambda(V)$ profile revealed $C_{ \rm 2} = 2.3653\pm0.0067$ mag if $S_\lambda(V)$ profile of Bessell is used, and $C_{ \rm 2} = 2.3826\pm0.0076$ mag if $S_\lambda(V)$ profile of Landolt is used. Expanding $C_{ \rm Bol} = 71.197425 ...$ mag and $c_{ \rm Bol} = -18.997351 ...$ mag announced by IAU2015GARB2, and using definition of $C_{ \rm 2} = C_{ \rm Bol}-C_{ \rm V} = c_{ \rm Bol}-c_{ \rm V}$, where capital $C$ is for the absolute and small $c$ is for the apparent, subscripts indicating bolometric and visual, the zero-point constants: $C_{ \rm V} = 68.8321\pm0.0067$ mag and $c_{ \rm V} = -21.3627\pm0.0067$ mag, if $L_{ \rm V}$ and are in SI units, were determined corresponding to $S_\lambda(V)$ of Bessell. The zero-point constants corresponding to $S_\lambda(V)$ of Landolt are smaller, but the difference is not more than 0.02 mag. Typical and limiting accuracies for predicting a stellar luminosity from an apparent magnitude and a distance are analyzed.
Categories: astro-ph.SR astro-ph.IM
