Ay 20: Useful Constants and Units

More precise values of the various constants are available at

http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constants.html.

Memorize the following constants.

Constant/Unit Symbol Value

Solar mass M⊙ 2 × 1033 g
Solar radius R⊙ 7 × 1010 cm
Solar luminosity L⊙ 4 × 1033 erg s−1
Solar effective temperature T⊙,eff 5780 K
Astronomical Unit AU 1.5 × 1013 cm
parsec pc 3.26 ly = 3.1 × 1018 cm
Gravitational Constant G 6.7 × 10−8 cm3 g−1 s−2
Speed of light c 3 × 1010 cm s−1
Boltzmann constant kB 1.4 × 10−16 erg K−1 = 8.6 × 10−5 eV K−1
Stefan-Boltzmann constant σ 5.7 × 10−5 erg cm−2 s−1 K−4
electron mass me 9.1 × 10−28 g = 0.511 MeV c2
Rydberg energy Ry 13.6 eV
1 eV 1.6 × 10−12 erg
1 Å 10−8 cm

Here are some more useful constants to know.

Constant/Unit Symbol Value

Moon mass MMoon 7.3 × 1025 g = 1.2 × 10−2 M⊕
Earth mass M⊕ 6.0 × 1027 g = 3 × 10−6 M⊙
Jupiter mass MJ 1.9 × 1030 g = 0.95 × 10−3 M⊙
Planck constant h 6.63 × 10−27 erg s
h 4.14 × 10−21 MeV s
hc 1240 eV nm = 1240 MeV fm
h̄c 197 eV nm = 197 MeV fm
Avogadro number NA 6.022 × 1023 mol−1
−1
nucleon mass (AMU) mU NA = 1.66 × 10−24 g = 931.5 MeV c2
electron mass me 9.1 × 10−28 g = 0.511 MeV c2
electron charge e 4.8 × 10−10 esu (cgs)
e 1.6 × 10−19 C (SI)
e2 1.44 eV nm (cgs)
Radiation constant a 4σc−1 = 7.5 × 10−15 erg cm−3 K−4
Rydberg energy Ry 2.18 × 10−11 erg = 13.6 eV
Bohr radius a0 0.5 × 10−8 cm