Cosmos


COSMOS - The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy › E

Effective Temperature


  • Although stars are not perfect blackbodies, they can be approximated as such, allowing us to calculate their surface temperature via the Stefan-Boltzmann Law:

    $ L = 4 \pi R^{2} \sigma T^{4}_{e} $where$ L = $luminosity of the star
    $ R = $star's radius
    $ \sigma = $Stefan-Boltzmann constant
    $ = $$ 5.67 \times 10^{-8} W m^{-2} K^{-4} $
    $ T_{e} = $effective temperature

    The surface temperature, calculated by assuming a perfect blackbody radiating the same amount of energy per unit area as the star, is known as the effective temperature of the star.


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