D A S TR OPHYSICS

Black-body radiation and stars

Worked example
Some data for the variable star
Betelgeuse are given below.
Average apparent brightness
= 1.6 × 10 –7 Wm –2
Radius = 790 solar radii
Earth–Betelgeuse separation
= 138 pc
The luminosity of the Sun is
3.8 × 10 26 W and it has a surface
temperature of 5800 K.
a) Calculate the distance between
the Earth and Betelgeuse in
metres.
b) Determine, in terms of the
luminosity of the Sun, the
luminosity of Betelgeuse.
c) Calculate the surface
temperature of Betelgeuse.
Solution
a) As 1 pc = 3.1 × 10 m,
In Sub-topic 8.2 we considered black bodies as theoretical objects that
absorb all the radiation that is incident upon them. Because there is no
reflection or re-emission they appear completely black – as their name
suggests. Such bodies would also behave as perfect emitters of radiation,
emitting the maximum amount of radiation possible at their temperature.
All objects at temperatures above absolute zero emit black-body
radiation. This type of radiation consists of every wavelength possible but
containing different amounts of energy at each wavelength for a particular
temperature. Although stars are not perfect black-bodies they are capable
of emitting and absorbing all wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.
Figure 10 shows the black-body radiation curves for the Sun, the very hot
star Spica, and the cold star Antares. Because each of the stars will produce
different intensities, the curves have been normalized by dividing the
intensity emitted at a given wavelength by the maximum intensity that the
star yields – this means the vertical scale has no unit and the maximum
value it can take is 1.00. The maximum intensity of radiation emitted by
the Sun has a wavelength of just over 500 nm making it appear yellow; the
peak intensity for Spica is in the ultraviolet region, but there is sufficient
intensity in the blue region for it to appear blue; the peak for Antares is in
the near infra-red but, with plenty of red light emitted, it appears to be red
to the naked eye.
Spica
(23,000 K)
16 1.00
normalized intensity

138 pc = 138 × 3.1 × 10 16

0.75
= 4.3 × 10 18 m Antares
b) b = ____
L
2 ∴ L = 4πd b
the Sun (3400 K)
2
0.50
4πd (5800 K)
= 4π[4.3 × 10 18] 2 × 1.6 × 10 -7 0.25
= 3.7 × 10 31 W
0
Dividing by the luminosity of 0 500 1000 1500 2000
the Sun gives wavelength/nm
3.7 × 10 31
26 = 9.7 × 10 .
________ 4 Figure 10 Black-body radiation curves for three stars.
3.8 × 10
So Betelgeuse has a luminosity For a star the Stefan–Boltzmann law is written as
of 9.7 × 10 4 L Sun
L = σAT 4
c) As L = σ4πR 2T 4, by taking
ratios we get where L is the luminosity in watt, A the surface area of the star in square
metres, and T the temperature in kelvin. σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann
L Sun σ4πR Sun T Sun 2 4
_______
L
= _______________
σ4πR Betelgeuse T Betelgeuse
2 4 constant = 5.67 × 10 –8 Wm −2 K −4.
Betelgueuse

_________ When we assume that a star is spherical we can use this equation in
√
2
T Betelgeuse L Betelgeuse R Sun
______
T
= 4 _________
L Sun R Betelgeuse 2
the form:
Sun
_______ L = σ4πR 2 T 4
=√ 9.8 × 104
4 _______
7902
= 0.63
where R is the radius of the star.
T Betelgeuse = 0.63 × 5800 K We can see that the luminosity of a star depends on its temperature and
= 3700 K its size (measured here by its surface area). In the next sub-topic we will
see how the balance between temperature and surface star size is used to
categorize star type.

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