Black Body Radiation

We look at the temperature of stars by looking at their colours.  A lot of energy is given off as thermal
radiation.  Objects that are red hot have a temperature of about 1200 K.  To understand how the colour
of an object depends on its temperature, we need to understand the concept of a black body.  A black
body is a perfect absorber so that all radiation that falls on it is absorbed.
 
A perfect absorber is a perfect emitter.  Therefore if we heat it up it will emit radiation including visible
light.  This is true (to a first approximation) for stars.  Note the following for black bodies:
 a hot object emits radiation across a wide range of wavelength;
 there is a peak in intensity at a given wavelength;
 the hotter the object the higher the peak;
 the hotter the object the shorter the peak wavelength.
 the area under the graph is the total energy radiated per unit time per unit surface area.

 
The peak wavelength is max which is the wavelength at which maximum energy is radiated.  This is
inversely proportional to theKelvin temperature.  It is called Wien's  Displacement Law (as the peak is
displaced towards shorter wavelengths).  We write it as:
 
max T = constant = 0.00289 m K
 
Worked example
What is the peak wavelength of a black body emitting radiation at 2000 K?  In what part of the
electromagnetic spectrum does this lie?
max = 0.00289 m K ÷ 2000 K
max = 1.45 x 10-6 m = 1450 nm
This is in the infra-red region.
 
  
 

Betelgeuse appears to be red.  If red light has a wavelength of about 600 nm,
Question 1
what would the surface temperature be?

 
You don't get green stars because the light from stars is emitted at a range of wavelengths, so there is
mixing of colours.  So those stars with amax in the green region will actually appear to be white.
 
Classification by Temperature
The American astronomer Anne Cannon was the first to classify stars using the science of spectroscopy. 
Astronomers look for Balmer lines which arise from electron transitions in hydrogen atoms (See Module
1).  As the electron drops from high levels to the second  energy level (the one above the ground state),
photons are emitted.  Because they are emitted in random directions, against a complete spectrum of
colours the emissions of photons would appear black.  This is an absorption spectrum.  Compare
the emission spectrum:
 

 
with the absorption spectrum:
 

 
By studying the spectral absorption lines at wavelengths corresponding to the photons of
the Balmer series, astronomers can get an idea of the temperature:
 At low temperatures there are few violent collisions to excite electrons which remain in the
ground state.  Energy level changes are rare.
 At high temperatures, there are many violent collisions between atoms.  Electron transitions occur
at higher levels so there are comparatively few Balmer transitions.
 At intermediate levels many electrons are performing Balmer transitions, so there are strong
absorption lines.
The Balmer lines are seen in the corona of the star.  The Balmer lines are the transitions in between
energy levels in the hydrogen atom that end at the energy level n = 2 (n = 1 is the ground state)
 
  
 
The temperatures can be related to the transitions.  Each level has a definite energy level.  Remember
from Unit 1 that:
 
 E3 - E2 = hf = hc
                         λ
 
So we can work out the photon wavelength for the transition n = 3 to n = 2.
 
Calculate the photon wavelength for the transition n = 3 (-1.51 eV)  to n = 2 (-
Question 2 3.41 eV).
What colour is this light?
 
Now we have a wavelength, we can use the Wien equation to calculate the temperature:
 
λmax  T =  0.00289 m K
 
Use your answer to Question 2 to calculate the temperature associated with this
Question 3
wavelength.
 
 
 The graph of intensity against temperature looks like this:

 
Notice that: 
 temperature decreases from left to right;
 for a given intensity, two temperatures are possible.  To overcome this, the spectra of other
elements are analysed.  Peak intensities of different elements are found, and this can tie down the
temperature.  The idea is shown on the next graph:

 
Therefore in the Sun, the spectral lines would be seen for iron and calcium, indicating a surface
temperature of about 6000 K.  Very hot stars show spectral lines for light elements while cool stars will
show up heavy elements, and spectra for molecules as well.
 
   
What would you not see when looking at the spectrum of the red giant
Question 4
Betelgeuse? What elements would you expect to see?
 
 Spectral Classes of Stars
The table shows the spectral classes for stars:
 
Spectral Surface temp H Balmer Other
 Class (K) Series  elements
O 40 000 weak ionised He
B 20 000 medium He atoms
weak ionised
A 10 000 strong
Ca
weak ionised
F 7500 medium
Ca
medium
G 5500 weak
ionised Ca
strong ionised
K 4500 weaker
Ca
M 3000 very weak strong TiO
 
The graph shows part of the visible spectrum for the star Vega: (note that it is an
absorption spectrum so the intensity dips to a minimum at the emitted wavelengths.)
 

 
 

 
Question 5
The absorption lines are due to excited hydrogen atoms. The wavelength of each absorption is
given in nm.
 
(a) Explain how Hydrogen atoms produce these absorption lines.
(b) The diagram below shows the first six energy levels of a hydrogen atom. State which is the largest
energy transition which produces an absorption line in the visible spectrum of Vega.

 (c) State the value of the wavelength corresponding to this transition.

(d) What is the name given to the series which gives rise to the visible region of the hydrogen
spectrum?
(e) For which spectral classes are these lines the dominant feature?
(AQA Past Question)
  
The classifications of stars according to spectra are also subdivided further with numbers (e.g. A5) to
allow the surface temperature to be determined within about 5 %.
Answer to question 1

T = 0.00289 m K ÷ 600 × 10-9 m  T= 4800 K

 Answer to question 2
Energy change = -1.51 - -3.41 = 1.90 eV

Energy change (J) = 1.90 × 1.60 × 10-19 = 3.04 × 10-19 J

λ= hc/E = 6.63 × 10-34 × 3 × 108 ÷ 3.04 × 10-19 = 6.54 × 10-7 m = 654 nm

Answer to question 3
T = 0.00289 ÷ 6.54 × 10-7 = 4420 K
Answer to question 4
You would see little evidence of Balmer Lines.
You would see spectral lines for iron and calcium.
You would also see evidence for molecules of titanium dioxide.
Answer to question 5
(a) Electrons are excited when atoms collide. They rise to a higher energy level by a discrete amount.
As they fall to lower energy levels they emit photons of energy corresponding to the energy difference
between the energy levels.
 
Absorption lines against a continuous spectrum are seen as the photons emitted at particular
wavelengths are emitted in all directions, so would produce a dark line.
 (b) The largest transition would give a photon of the shortest wavelength. This would be from n = 6
to n = 2.
 (c) This is at 410 nm
 (d) The lines are called the Balmer series.
 (e) Classes A, B and F
 
Question
What is the difference between black hole singularity and big bang singularity? 
Asked by: Ivo Roolaht 

Answer
The Big Bang singularity is a point of zero volume, but very high mass, which makes the density infinite. This
singularity contained all of the matter and energy in the Universe. The initial moment of the cyclopean explosion
very well remains a mystery � however, astronomers and physicists believe that after the tiniest fraction of a
second, the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force separated, which probably caused the Universe to
begin inflating. The Big Bang itself created space, time, and all of the matter and energy we know today.
Black hole singularities are created after the core of a very massive star collapses beyond an imaginary sphere
called the event horizon. Since these singularities are infinitesimally small, they possess infinite density.
The differences are that black hole singularities, of course, do not contain all of the matter and energy in the
Universe because there are so many of them. There was only one Big Bang singularity, and it contained the whole
Universe. Another difference is that space and time were born from the Big Bang singularity, and black holes
actually stretches out space to the point where it probably rips the fabric of space-time, and ends time altogether.
According to Stephen W. Hawking, singularities either occur entirely in the future or entirely in the past. In this
case, black hole singularities always lie in the future (if you were to go near one, your time will come to an end),
and the Big Bang singularity always lie in the past (if you were able to rewind time, galaxies will become closer
together, eventually coming together at a point). 
Answered by: Joel Novicio, Undergraduate Physics Student, South San Francisco 

Depends on which type of black hole you consider. If you consider a simple non-rotating black hole, I can't really
think of a difference between the singularities (other than the fact that one exists within the universe whereas the
other 'was the universe' - but this is irrelevant).
In both cases the singularity was a single point where the curvature of space time are infinite. It is believed that at
this point the general theory of relativity (almost universally accepted as 'the' accurate description of gravity)
ceases to hold true.
The singularity of a rotating black hole is essentially the same except that it exists in a ring (thus the name ring
singularity). The consequences of a rotating black hole (if they exist - we have no direct proof that any type of
black holes exist) however, are very different from non-rotating ones. 
Answered by: K Shaban, CS/Physics Student, Carnegie Mellon 

A black hole singularity is the dimensionless point where all matter pulled into the back hole is concentrated. It has
infinite density and therefore does not exist within space-time as it is the point of infinite curvature of space-time.
The big bang singularity is where all the mass of the universe used to be concentrated. It had all of the properties of
a black hole singularity but from it 'grew' space time and matter was released into this space as the fundamental
particles of very high energy. This is the big bang. Therefore, the main difference is that a black hole singularity is
the end of space time (and pulls matter in) and the big bang singularity is the beginning of space time (where
matter and space were made 'real'). 
A black hole itself is not a singularity, but General Relativity predicts that a singularity exists at the center of a
black hole.
As far as I can determine, it's called a singularity because the laws of physics cease to describe what happens there.
Curvature of space-time and density of matter become infinite. They are undefined. In mathematics, a singularity is
an object that is undefined, or a point in a set where an object is not well-behaved.
An event horizon is a type of boundary such that any information past this boundary is inaccessible to the observer
it is defined for. Common examples are the Schwarzschild radius of a black hole (which is defined commonly for
all observers outside this radius) and the cosmological even horizon (which is defined as a radius from an
observer).