BLACK AND GRAY

AND NON-THERMAL
RADIATION
WHAT IS RADIATION ?
RADIATION IS DEFINED AS
ENERGY THAT TRAVELS
THROUGH SPACE OR MATTER
IN THE FORM OF A PARTICLE
OR WAVE. IT CAN BE
PRODUCED IN ONE OF TWO
WAYS: BY RADIOACTIVE
DECAY OF AN UNSTABLE
ATOM (RADIONUCLIDE), OR
BY THE INTERACTION OF A
PARTICLE WITH MATTER.
 WHAT IS THERMAL RADIATION?

• IS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION EMITTED FROM A

MATERIAL THAT IS DUE TO THE HEAT OF THE MATERIAL,
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WHICH DEPEND ON ITS
TEMPERATURE.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THERMAL RADIATION DEPEND ON
THE FOLLOWING PROPERTIES OF THE EMITTING OBJECT
OR BODY:
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
SMOOTHNESS OR ROUGHNESS OF THE SURFACE
SPECTRAL ABSORPTIVITY
SPECTRAL EMISSIVE POWER
 WHAT IS NON-THERMAL
RADIATION?
• IF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EMITTED RADIATION DO NOT DEPEND ON
THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SOURCE, THE RADIATION IS KNOWN AS ‘NON-
THERMAL RADIATION’.

• SOME OF THE MORE UNUSUAL OBJECTS IN SPACE SUCH AS

SUPERNOVAS, PULSAR, RADIO GALAXIES, SEYFERT GALAXIES, AND OTHERS,
PRODUCE COPIOUS AMOUNT OF PHOTONS.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THERMAL AND NON-
THERMAL RADIATION
• THERMAL RADIATION OR BLACK BODY RADIATION IS THE
RADIATION EMITTED BY A SOURCE PURELY DUE TO ITS
TEMPERATURE, AND THEREFORE ACCORDING TO PLANCK’S LAW.
THE LIGHT FROM OUR SUN AND THE OTHER STARS OR THE RADIO
SIGNAL AT TENS OF GHZ OF A PLANET ARE ALL CAUSED BY THE
SOURCE HAVING A CERTAIN TEMPERATURE IS A BLACK BODY
WHILE NON-THERMAL RADIATION IS RADIATION CAUSED BY
OTHER PROCESSES LIKE GAMMA RAYS DUE TO NUCLEAR
REACTIONS AND X-RAYS DUE TO ELECTRONS BEING ACCELERATED
VERY RAPIDLY.
 BLACK BODY RADIATION
• IS THEORETICALLY AN OBJECT THAT ABSORBS
100% OF THE RADIATION THAT HITS IT.
THEREFORE IT REFLECTS NO RADIATION AND
REFLECTS PERFECTLY BLACK.
• A BLACK BODY IS AN IDEAL BODY WHICH ALLOWS
THE WHOLE OF THE INCIDENT RADIATION TO PASS
INTO ITSELF (WITHOUT REFLECTING THE ENERGY)
AND ABSORBS WITHIN ITSELF THIS WHOLE INCIDENT
RADIATION (WITHOUT PASSING ON THE ENERGY).
THIS PROPETY IS VALID FOR RADIATION
CORRESPONDING TO ALL WAVELENGTHS AND TO
ALL ANGELS OF INCIDENCE. THEREFORE, THE BLACK
BODY IS AN IDEAL ABSORBER OF INCIDENT
RADIATION
 GRAY BODY RADIATION
• A GRAY IS DEFINED AS A BODY WHOSE ABSORPTIVITY OF A
SURFACE DOES NOT VARY WITH VARIATION IN TEMPERATURE AND
WAVELENGTH OF THE INCIDENT RADIATION
• A GRAY BODY IS NON-IDEAL EMITTER OR AN IMPERFECT RADIATOR.
• ABSORBS SOME OF ENERGY IT WILL RECEIVE.
• EMIT THE ENERGY IT WILL RECEIVE
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLACK BODY
AND GRAY BODY

- BLACK BODY IS A PERFECT ABSORBER AND

PERFECT EMITTER WHILE GRAY BODY IS A NON-
IDEAL EMITTER OR AN IMPERFECT RADIATOR
 BEYOND BLACK BODY: NON-THERMAL
RADIATION
UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, THE RELATIONS DESCRIBED BY
PLANCK AND WIEN ABOUT THERMAL, OR BLACK BODY
RADIATION NO LONGER HOLD – FOR EXAMPLE, AT TEMPERATURES
OVER 10 MILLION K OR WHERE VERY STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS
ARE AT PLAY. THIS MAY HAPPEN IN A VARIETY OF COSMIC
ENVIRONMENTS, INCLUDING THE SOLAR CORONA, THE
REMNANTS OF SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS, NEUTRON STARS OR
THE DIFFUSE INTERSTELLAR GAS THAT PERVADES THE MILKY WAY
AND OTHER GALAXIES.