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The effective temperature of the Sun (5778 kelvins) is the temperature a black body of the same size must have to yield the same total emissive power.. The effective temperature of a star is the temperature of a black body with the same luminosity per surface area (F Bol) as the star and is defined according to the Stefan–Boltzmann law F Bol = σT eff 4.
In astronomy, the color index is a simple numerical expression that determines the color of an object, which in the case of a star gives its temperature. The lower the color index, the more blue (or hotter) the object is. Conversely, the larger the color index, the more red (or cooler) the object is.
where G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the star, R is the radius of the star, and L is the star's luminosity. As an example, the Sun 's thermal time scale is approximately 15.7 million years.
The temperature of stars other than the Sun can be approximated using a similar means by treating the emitted energy as a black body radiation. [27] So: L = 4 π R 2 σ T 4 {\displaystyle L=4\pi R^{2}\sigma T^{4}} where L is the luminosity , σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, R is the stellar radius and T is the effective temperature .
From this measurement and the apparent magnitudes of both stars, the luminosities can be found, and by using the mass–luminosity relationship, the masses of each star. These masses are used to re-calculate the separation distance, and the process is repeated. The process is iterated many times, and accuracies as high as 5% can be achieved. [8]
All radii, once calculated, are divided by 6.957 × 10 8 to convert from m to R ☉.. AD radius determined from angular diameter and distance =, (/) =, = D is multiplied by 3.0857 × 10 19 to convert from kpc to m
Evolution of the solar luminosity, radius and effective temperature compared to the present-day Sun. After Ribas (2010) [1] The solar luminosity (L ☉) is a unit of radiant flux (power emitted in the form of photons) conventionally used by astronomers to measure the luminosity of stars, galaxies and other celestial objects in terms of the output of the Sun.
In astrophysics, the nuclear timescale is an estimate of the lifetime of a star based solely on its rate of fuel consumption. Along with the thermal and free-fall (aka dynamical) time scales, it is used to estimate the length of time a particular star will remain in a certain phase of its life and its lifespan if hypothetical conditions are met.