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Intro To Stars

The document discusses key concepts relating to stars, including: 1. Flux is the amount of energy intercepted by a detector from a star, while luminosity is the total energy output of the star. Flux decreases with the square of the distance from the star. 2. Apparent magnitude is a measure of a star's brightness as seen from Earth, while absolute magnitude is a star's magnitude if viewed from a standard distance. Absolute magnitude is directly related to luminosity. 3. A star's color indicates its surface temperature, with hotter stars appearing bluer. Spectral classification sorts stars based on their spectra and surface temperatures. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram relates stars' luminos

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102 views

Intro To Stars

The document discusses key concepts relating to stars, including: 1. Flux is the amount of energy intercepted by a detector from a star, while luminosity is the total energy output of the star. Flux decreases with the square of the distance from the star. 2. Apparent magnitude is a measure of a star's brightness as seen from Earth, while absolute magnitude is a star's magnitude if viewed from a standard distance. Absolute magnitude is directly related to luminosity. 3. A star's color indicates its surface temperature, with hotter stars appearing bluer. Spectral classification sorts stars based on their spectra and surface temperatures. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram relates stars' luminos

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Stars

Flux and Luminosity


Brightness of stars and the magnitude scale
Absolute magnitude and luminosity
Distance modulus
Temperature vs heat
Temperature vs color
Colors/spectra of stars

Flux and luminosity


Luminosity - A star produces light the total
amount of energy that a star puts out as light
each second is called its Luminosity.
Flux - If we have a light detector (eye, camera,
telescope) we can measure the light produced
by the star the total amount of energy
intercepted by the detector divided by the area
of the detector is called the Flux.

Flux and luminosity


To find the luminosity, we take a shell
which completely encloses the star and
measure all the light passing through the
shell
To find the flux, we take our detector at
some particular distance from the star and
measure the light passing only through the
detector. How bright a star looks to us is
determined by its flux, not its luminosity.
Brightness = Flux.

Flux and luminosity


Flux decreases as we get farther from the star
like 1/distance2

L
F
2
4D

Brightness of stars
The brightness of a star is a measure of its flux.
Ptolemy (150 A.D.) grouped stars into 6
`magnitude groups according to how bright they
looked to his eye.
Herschel (1800s) first measured the brightness
of stars quantitatively and matched his
measurements onto Ptolemys magnitude
groups and assigned a number for the
magnitude of each star.

Brightness of stars
In Herschels system, if a star is 1/100 as
bright as another then the dimmer star has
a magnitude 5 higher than the brighter
one.
Note that dimmer objects have higher
magnitudes

Little Dipper
(Ursa Minor)

Guide to naked-eye
magnitudes

Apparent Magnitude
Consider two stars, 1 and 2, with apparent magnitudes
m1 and m2 and fluxes F1 and F2. The relation between
apparent magnitude and flux is:

F1

m1 m2 2.5 log10
F2

F1
m2 m1 / 2.5
10
F2
For m2 - m1 = 5, F1/F2 = 100.

Flux, luminosity, and magnitude


L
F
2
4D
F1

m2 m1 2.5 log10
F2

L1 4D22

m2 m1 2.5 log10
2
4D1 L2
L2
D2
m2 m1 2.5 log10
5 log10
L1
D1

Distance-Luminosity relation:
Which star appears brighter to the
observer?
Star 1
L

10L
Star 2

d
10d

Flux and luminosity


D2
10
D1

L2
10
L1
F2
L2 4D
L2 D1


2
F1 4D2 L1
L1 D2
2
1

1
10

10

Star 2 is dimmer and has a higher magnitude.

0.1

Flux and luminosity


L2
10
L1

D2
10
D1

L2
D2
m2 m1 2.5 log10
5 log10
L1
D1
m2 m1 2.5 log10 10 5 log10 10
m2 m1 2.5 5 2.5
Star 2 is dimmer and has a higher magnitude.

Absolute magnitude
The magnitude of a star gives it brightness
or flux when observed from Earth.
To talk about the properties of star,
independent of how far they happen to be
from Earth, we use absolute magnitude.
Absolute magnitude is the magnitude that a
star would have viewed from a distance of
10 parsecs.
Absolute magnitude is directly related to the
luminosity of the star.

Absolute Magnitude and


Luminosity
The absolute magnitude of the Sun is M = 4.83.
The luminosity of the Sun is L = 3.861026 W.

L L 10

4.83 M / 2.5

M 4.83 2.5 log10


L
Note the M includes only light in the visible band, so this is
accurate only for stars with the same spectrum as the Sun.

Absolute Magnitude
Absolute magnitude, M, is defined as

M m 5 log10 D 5
where D is the distance to the star measured in parsecs.
For a star at D = 10 parsecs, 5log10 = 5, so M = m.
If we can figure out the absolute magnitude of a star, then
we can determine its distance using the apparent
magnitude. The distance modulus is defined as

m M 5 log10 ( D / 10 pc)

Is Sirius brighter or fainter than Spica:


(a) as observed from Earth [apparent magnitude]
(b) Intrinsically [luminosity]?

Sun

Which star would have the highest


magnitude?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Star A - 10 pc away, 1 solar luminosity


Star B - 30 pc away, 3 solar luminosities
Star C - 5 pc away, 0.5 solar luminosities
Star D - Jennifer Lawrence

Stars: Temperature and Color


Temperature vs heat
Temperature vs color
Colors/spectra of stars

Temperature
lower T

higher T

Temperature is proportional to the average kinetic


energy per molecule

1 2 3
K mv kT
2
2

k = Boltzmann constant =
1.3810-23 J/K = 8.6210-5 eV/K

Temperature vs. Heat


lower T

higher T

Temperature is proportional
to the average kinetic
energy per molecule
Heat (thermal energy) is
proportional to the total
kinetic energy in box
less heat

same T

more heat

Wiens law
Cooler objects produce radiation which peaks
at lower energies = longer wavelengths =
redder colors.
Hotter objects produce radiation which peaks
at higher energies = shorter wavelengths =
bluer colors.
Wavelength of peak radiation:
Wien Law max = 2.9 x 106 / T(K) [nm]

A objects color depends on its


surface temperature

Wavelength of peak radiation:


Wien Law max = 2.9 x 106 / T(K) [nm]

What can we learn from a


stars color?
The color indicates the temperature of the
surface of the star.

Observationally, we measure colors by


comparing the brightness of the star in two
(or more) wavelength bands.
U

This is the same way your eye determines color, but


the bands are different.

Use UVRI filters to


determine apparent
magnitude at each color

The ratio of fluxes in two bands translates to the difference


in magnitudes, or a color, e.g. B V = mB mV.
Stellar temperature follow an approximate, empirical
relation: T ~ 9000 K/[(B-V) + 0.93]

The spectrum of a star is


primarily determined by
1.
2.
3.
4.

The temperature of the stars surface


The stars distance from Earth
The density of the stars core
The luminosity of the star

Stars are assigned a `spectral


type based on their spectra
The spectral classification essentially
sorts stars according to their surface
temperature.
The spectral classification can also use
spectral lines.

Spectral type
Sequence is: O B A F G K M
O type is hottest (~25,000K), M type is coolest
(~2500K)
Star Colors: O blue to M red
Sequence subdivided by attaching one numerical
digit, for example: F0, F1, F2, F3 F9 where F1
is hotter than F3 . Sequence is O O9, B0, B1,
, B9, A0, A1, A9, F0,
Useful mnemonics to remember OBAFGKM:
Our Best Astronomers Feel Good Knowing More
Oh Boy, An F Grade Kills Me
(Traditional) Oh, Be a Fine Girl (or Guy), Kiss Me

Question
Which is cooler, a star with spectral type G2
or a star with spectral type A6?

Classifying stars
We now have two properties of stars
that we can measure:
Luminosity
Color/surface temperature

Using these two characteristics has


proved extraordinarily effective in
understanding the properties of stars
the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram

HR diagram

Absolute Bolometric Magnitude


and Luminosity
The bolometric magnitude includes radiation at all
wavelengths.
The absolute bolometric magnitude of the Sun is
Mbol = +4.74.

M bol

4.74 2.5 log10


L

Bolometric Correction
It is difficult to measure the radiation from a star at all
wavelengths. However, if one knows the temperature and
the magnitude in one band, then one can integrate the
blackbody spectrum over all wavelengths.
We typically estimate the bolometric magnitude using the
V-band magnitude and a color to estimate the temperature.
Bolometric correction = BC = Mbol - MV.

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