SHY

Luminosity is an absolute measureof thetotal power oftheelectromagneticradiation

emittedby a star

NOTE It is the total energyemittedperunittime

It is denoted bysymbol L
It is a scalarquantity
Units for luminosityare Watts W or Js
RadiantFlanIntensity
The energy emittedby a star movesout in all directions Thislightilluminatesan everincreasing
area as it moves out fromthe star
If noenergy is absorbed and theenergy isemitted uniformlyin all directions then at
distance d fromthe star the energy will bespreadoverthe surfacearea ofsphere
The area isgivenby the expression and andsincetotalenergypersecondis the
Luminosity L then the energypassing persecondthroughunit area isgivenby

4 2

Intensity can simply becalledthen intensity

RadiantFlan
It is also termed as the apparent brightness or observed brightness

RadiantFlaw Intensity is denoted

by F
Units Wm 2

Define Radiant FlanIntensity Fun Intensity

It isdefined as radiant power Luminosity passingnormallythrough asurfaceperunitarea

F knownas the brightnessequation

ya Also
followsinversesquarelaw

hard
If Yard2 Eg Idi
EI

Question
Theluminosity of thesun is 39 1020W TheEarth orbitsthe sun at a meandistanceof
1 5 108km Calculate theradiantflanintensity ofthesun near to theearth
 Solution
p 3.9 10 1 4 103Wm 2
ya 41T i sxiong

Question
The radiantthenIntensity at Earthdueto thesun's radiation is1400Wh The mean
orbital radii about the sun of EarthandMars are 1.5 108kmand 2.3 108umrespectively
Determine the radiantthenintensity of thesun at Mar'ssurface

Solution
Method
gunto Earth W Sun to Mars
F L F
Gird 2 Ltd2
1400 L F 3.96 1026
4 1.5 1011 41 2.3 1011

2 3.96 10 W F 595.46Wm 2 Wm2

600
Method2

Fearth 1900
Fmars 411 Fmars 3,4
2 595.46

Fmars I 600Wm 2

Lightyear
It is the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in a time of oneyear
I 3 ox 108 365 x 24 60 60
lightyear
I lightyear 96608 10 m

Ilightyear 9.5 10 m I 9 5 1012km

Standardcandles

A standard candle is a class ofstellarobjectwhich a known luminosity

andwhose distance can be determined calculation
by itsradiant fun
using
intensity andluminosity

Luminosity of sin brightest starts

Isan 3.83 10 W a'Phacentour 52sun 5.75 wow

sirius 25Lsun 9.58 1027W Arcturus 170Lsun G six1028W
Canopus noo sun g 2g wasw Luega Golson I 53 1028W
 Wien's displacement law
There is a linkbetween theobserved wavelength of lightandtemperature

Enamples
Increasethetemperature ofthefilamentlamp
byincreasingthe currentin At first the
afilament
filament will glow dull red when it is cooler thereddishorange andeventuallywhitish blue
asit gets hotter

When a steelrod is heated verystrongly at first it glowsdullred Asheating

continues the brightness of theglow increasesandthecolorchangesfromdullred
to orange The rod is radiating energy to its surroundings as E M R Thebrightnessof
the glowdepends on therate atwhich radiation isemitted theintensity andthe
colour seen depends ontherelativeintensities ofthewavelengths oftheemittedradiation

Euperiments show that at particulartemperature anobjectemits radiation with

any
a continuousrange ofwavelengths and that theintensity and thespread ofwavelengths
emitted depends on thetemperature oftheobject

Things to know
Blackbody radiation refers tothe spectrum of lightemitteddependson temperature
ofthe object

Things toknow
Blackbodyradiationrefers tothe spectrumoflightemittedby an heatedobjectCenample toaster
filament

Blackbody It is anidealizedphysicalbodythatabsorbs allincident EM R regardlessoffrequency

or angleofincidence Thename blackbody is givenbecause itabsorbs all coloursof light

NOTE Anyobjectwhichemits radiation willhave a highertemperaturethan its surrounding

environment

Carbon black 99 ofincidentradiation manmadeobjectwhichcloselyresembles blackbody

Astar can be modelled as a blackbody
 It canbe seen that
At all temperatures radiation is emitted over a continuousrangeofwavelengths
Thepeak of thegraph moves towards shorter wavelengths as temperatureincreases
Thehigherthe temperature the greater thepower radiated

The wavelength that we observe is the wavelength corresponding to manIntensityfor a

given temperature Thewavelength corresponding to the manimum intensity ofemission at
temperature is given the symbol aman
any
A man d Wien'sdisplacement law
of ByWilheimWien
man
by

where I temperature in Kelvin k

b Wien's displacement constant 2.898 10 3 mk
empirically
deduced 4

Question
The wavelength of the peak intensity ofradiationemitted bythe sun isstorm
Calculate a valuefor the surface temperature of the sun

Solution Aman 510 109 2.898 10 3

by T
T 5682 4k 5700k

Question
RigelandBetelgeuse are two stars in the constellation ofOrion Thewavelengthsforthe
peakintensities ofemission of radiationfromRigelandfromBetelgeuse are240mmand
878mnrespectively
Calculate surfacetemperature of each of thestars
Solution
 Rigel Betelgeuse
Iman
I
man

240 109 2.898 10 3 878 10 9 2898 10 3

T
T 12075212000k T 33300.7k 73300k

NOTE
Byjustcomparing wavelength we can determineRigel hashighertemperature as Aman
for Rigel is smaller as compared to aman forBetelgeuse

Solution7
T soook F Goook
man 580 10 am aman 725 10am

b Txman b T man
5000 so ox to a 4000 725 10 9
2 ax to 3mn 2 axto 3mn

Since the product is constant we can

say the relationship isvalid

Aman
by
2.9 10 3 8285 k 2 8300k
I 35010 a
 480
410
3600

Stefan Boltzmannlaw
not depend on thesurfacetemperature ofthe
The luminosity of a star does
star Luminosity also depends upon the physicalsize of thestar itsradius
Forexample thesuper redgiant star kyCygni hasasurfacetemperature
of 3500k butits luminosityis 200000timesthatof oursun KYCygni iscooler
than the sun butits largesurface area makesit veryluminous
Theluminosity of a star depends ontwofactors
itssurfacethermodynamictemperature T Inkelvins
its radius r inmetres
In 1879 the physicist JosefStefan developed aneupressionforluminosity c ofa star
For a spherical object ofradius r emitting blackbodyradiation at thermodynamictemperatureCt
its luminosity24 is givenbythe eupression

2 41766274 Stefan Boltzmannlaw

where 6 8
5.67 10 Wm 2k 4
I empiricallydeduced
Stefan Boltzmann constant
Leuperimental value

Wien's displacement law and StefanBoltzmann law areusedtogether to determine stellarradio

stellarradii radiusof a star

Question
Thesurface temperatureof thesun is5800kandwavelength oflight atpeakintensity issoonm Thewavelength
at peakintensityforSirius B is 12ohm The luminosityofthisstar is o o setimes thatofthesun
Theluminosityof the sun is 383 1026W
Calculatethe radiusof Sirius B

Step 1 UseWien's displacement law to calculate thetemperature ofSirius B

Xman a man F Cb
constant

500 5800 120 T

T 24167k A 24000k

Step2 Use theStefan Boltzmann law to calculate the radiusof Sirius B

 2 41708274
o 056 3.83 1026 4T 5.67 10 8 222416734
8 9.4 10 m

NOTE Sirius B is roughly thesize ofourEarth It is a veryhotstar butnotveryluminous

ble ofits smallsize

Question
taken of the star Siriuswill giveits luminosity c as 16 1020w withitsintensity
Measurements
manimum at 290 nm Determine a valuefortheradiusofsirius

solution
man by 3 T Iman
amor TU r L L
4 to ta 410 Eman

1.6 1028 r tsxioam

567 108142 a
3
Question
Theluminosity ofthe star Aldebaran is520 timesthatofthe Sun Thewavelengthoflight
at peakIntensityforAldebaran is 74ohm andthe wavelength oflight at peak intensity
for the sunis soonm
Euplain whether Alderaban is cooleror hotterthanthesun
Taman x wien's displacementlaw

For Alderbaran a man of74ohm is greater than aman lot soonm of sun soaccordingto
Wiensdisplacement law its Temperature will beless soit will becooler as comparedtosun

Calculate
maeraban
r sun
L actor2the

tf
r
go y

raider
baran
Folsan
Tho a Mtg
tolbooth
Valderbaran x
sun
Iggy.gg L sun

49.94250
5201748T
04 TheredgiantstarAldebaran has a luminosity of 195 1020W Thewavelength correspondingto
peathintensity ofemissionradiation is 725mm Calculate to 2significant figures theradius
of Alderaban
Mimiman T 2.898 10 3 3997 2 k 4000k
y pm 725 10 9

2 417682Th

É to
r
4 15.67 10 8 3997.214

r 3.3 10 m

9 5 10 m I lightyear
3 3 1010m 3 6 10 6lightyear

CepheidVariables
To measure distance theradiantflanintensity F onearth observedapparentbrightness is
measured If the actual luminosity c of the star or
galanycanbefoundthenthe
distance canbe calculated butthe difficulty is inthedeterminationof theluminosity
Oneway in whichthis problem is overcome is the use ofstarsknown as Cepheidvariables

Many of the standard candles we know areclassified asCepheidvariables

A CepheidVariable is atype ofextremely luminous starthatundergoesperiodicchangesin

Luminosity They are so luminous that we are abletoobserve individual CepheidVariables
inothergalanies Theproperties of Cepheidvariables canbeusedto determinedistances
inspace

Cepheidvariablestars were firstidentified HenriettaSwanLeavitt in1908 Shediscovered

by
moreluminous Cepheidhad longerperiods andother astronomers entendedher work toshow
thatthere is a relationship betweenthe periodofstar's variation and its luminosity
Whydoes thisperiodicchange happen
A Cepheid pulsates in a regularand predictable cycle It is thoughtthatHeliumisinvolved
in its cycle DoublyionizedHelium is more opaquethan singly ionized helium meaning
it lets little light through

NOTE Doublyionized means Heliumwithoutelectrons x particles

Singly ionized means Helium atomsmissing oneelectron
At the dimmestpart compressed of thecycle doublyionizedHelium makes upthe
outerlayers ofthestar This meansthat theouterlayers are more opaquewhichexplains
its dimming Theseouterlayersare heatedbyradiationwhichcausesthe layers to expand
fromhigh temperature Thiscoolsthe outerlayers whichresults inlessionizationand less
opaque Gravity thenprevents thelayers fromexpandingtoofarandreverses repeating
thecycle
 Het
Heat Het
Heat
Heat Het He Heat
et
Heat
Heat He2
Het Heat
Het Heat
opaque dull ye opaquedull
transparent
relatively
Bright
Cepheid variables have an outer layer thatexpandsandcontractswhen theouterlayeris
largeandlessdense morelightfromthecore ofthe starcanpassthroughandthestar is brighter
When the outerlayer is smallandmoredense lesslightfromthecore can throughandthe
get
star is dimmer So more luminosity means thestaris in its largerphase andlessluminositymeans
its in its smallerphase

Cepheid Variable
varytheirluminosity periodically repeatsoverequalamountsoftime Thegraphof
a cepheid variable's luminosity is not a sine graph Thetimeit takesto regainluminosity
is lessthan the time ittakes to lose luminosity We canidentifytheCepheid's periodusing
luminositytimegraph

Since all Cepheids of a periodhavethe

given
sameluminosity a Cepheid's luminosity L canbe
estimatedfromthe periodof thevariationofbrightness
Hencethedistance to the staris found aftermeasuringF

Importance ofCepheidVariables
First variablestarwasDelta
cephei 1784
Before 1908 the
onlyway of measuring distance to stars wasparallenmethod Thedisplacement
or thechange in the apparent position oftheobjectwhenviewed fromtwodifferentpoint of
views
Parallen method wasrestricted to onlytoolightyears
when angles becometoosmall ow atmosphere beginsto interferewiththe measurements
Just the radius ofMilkyway is 50,000lightyears Thismeansthatwe canonlyobserve
0.290 of the milkyway
After the discovery of Cepheidvariable we can measuredistanceof morethan
20million lightyears

NOTE Other unitfor measuring distances inspace is parsec

I parsec 3.262 light
year
 So Cepheid variables above completely changed our understanding ofouruniverse
andhow farawaydifferentobjectswere whichalsoallowedus tounderstandtheshape
of our galanyand the shapeof othergalaxies andeventually provethattheuniverse
wasexpanding

Questhetaminosity
cc a CepheidVariable isestimated from its periodtobe 4.6 10sW
of
Its radiant flanIntensity observedbrightness F measured onEarth is 1.3 1023won 2
Determine the distanceof theCepheidvariablefromEarth
Solution
F
Edl
13 1023 4.6 10s
4Td2
d 5 3 1018m
If value needed in lightyears

9 5 1015m Ilightyear
5 3 10 m 560lightyears

Question
sun 3.83 10 W

State two factors that affect radiant flan intensityof a star

Luminosity L
Distance d
TheradiantflawIntensity f oflightfrom a lamp ofdistance loom is 0.32win2
Calculate F from the same lamp at a distanceof 15cm

solution
F F
far 41T o 1572
O 32
GET F 142 Wim2

NOTE Cepheid variables method doesnot workfor

galanies containing no Cepheidvariables
Other StandardCandles Supernovae

Type 1A supernovae starsimploderapidlytowardsthe endoftheirlivesandscattermatterand

energy outintospace Thisimplosiont event can be brighterthanthe galaxyitself
 BigBangTheory
TheBigBang Theory is currently the accepted theory ofhowtheuniversewas created The
theory Statesthat originally allthe matter intheuniverse wascreatedfrom a single tiny
infinetely hotanddensepoint whichexplodedand begantoenlargerapidlyandis still expanding
today Atearlystages after the Bgi Bang fundamentalparticles suchasQuarks leptons
andforces suchas strongforces gravitation cameintoenistence subsequentlyexpansionled
to coolingandformation ofatoms starsand galanes

We know thattheuniverse is expanding because of DopplerRedshift

The dopplerRedshift is a term we use to describe theincrease in theobservedwavelength

ofthe electromagnetic waves duetothe recession of thesource We cansee thishappening
with lightwhen we look at distant stars Thelightappears to bestretchedtowards
the Redend of the spectrum because the star is receding movingaway from us
Theredshift of spectrallinesfromdistantgalaxies impliesthat all galanies are
receding away from us i e the universe is expanding Thisobservation was
made EdwinHubble
by

Doppler RedShift

D shiftin frequency canbeobtainedby

Ex or
DI I corresponding
Bf Ext
where Ax shiftin wavelength m
or
of I
x originalwavelengthfromsource m where Dt shiftinfrequency Ha
v speed of recessionCms f originalfrequencyofthe source He
c speed oflight

DI Bf L
hence

Hubbies law
Hubbies observation were notjustrestricted to theenpansion oftheuniverse Healso
awayfromEarthare receding at a muchhigher
concluded that galanies further
speed as compared to the galanieswhich were nearer

The recessional speed v of a galany is directly proportional toitsdistance d fromus

 v a d
v Hod
where v recessional speed of galany
d distance of thegalang fromus
Ho Hubbies constant
forunits
Value for Ho 2 a xto ios Ho 1 5
I 2
lineofBestfit

Themoredistant a galany
thefasteritrecedesaway

Gradient

Question

Af 4.567 4 570 x 1014Hz

Df 2.3 1012Hz

E
2 3 1012
45671019 Foo
v e 1.5 106ms 1

Afsince observed frequency is lessthantheemitted frequency lightfrom a labsource

away fromthe
Source is receding Earth at 106ms l
1.5 x
 E
486.113 486.112 10 9 V
986.113 10 a 3 0 108

1
V I 1.37104ms

Towards earth as the light is blueshifted

Solution
6631 656.4 a v
BE I 656.4 3.0 108
v e 3 i x106ms l
awayfromEarth as lightis redshifted

Wi
Thestar is movingawayfromtheEarth because thewavelengthof itslightis increased
Redshift

E
0 087 VI 6 ox 104ms t
434
 I 401.8 393.3 x v
I 393.3 3 108

VI 6.5 106ms 1
Awayfrom Earth Redshift

Solution
Assuminggalany to be non relativistic i e moving with speed
farless than the speed of lightin a vacuum c

BE I
0.157
108
V F 4.5 107ms t

solution I I 9400 103 0.031

AI I ay 3.0 108
 Solution
Vfx x 3 0 108 4.1 10 am
7 3 ion

E
Dx 11 106
G 1 10 7 3 108

DX It 5 10 8m
Observed wavelengths a DX 4.1 10 7 1.5 10 8
4.25 10 7m

0.07 17 2.9 10 8m
4 7
ax 4.1 10 7 2.9 10 8 4.4 10 7m