Yes Brandon is absolutely correct, in layman terms
Authority = Host Name + Port No
And if URL protocol is using a default port, say port 80 for http URL, then only in that case
Authority = Host Name (Port No is assumed to be 80),
Whereas Host Name is either Domain Name or I.P Address
Example:
-
http://www.example.com/Authority = www.example.com
Host Name = www.example.com -
http://255.255.255.255:8080/Authority = 255.255.255.255:8080
Host Name = 255.255.255.255