INTRODUCTION

Starlight, the light from the stars, is of the same

nature as sunlight. The sun is in fact a star whose light
does not differ from the light of millions of similar stars
scattered across the universe.
Although the Sun is the nearest star, it is about
150 million km. from the Earth. Furthermore the sun is
too hot for any instrument to descend on. The nearest
star, next to the Sun, is trillions of kilometers away.
Information about stars come to us hidden in starlight.
Therefore you can learn about the stars from the
analysis of the light that comes from them.
THE ORIGIN OF STARLIGHT
Stars are great balls of hot gases. The
starlight you see comes from the gases on the outer
surface of the star. The visible bright surface of the
star is called photosphere. The gas above the
photosphere is too thin and of low density to give a
significant amount of light. The gases inside the star
also emit light, but this light is absorbed and
therefore cannot escape to reach the Earth.
THE ORIGIN OF STARLIGHT
To understand how the photosphere of star
produces light, lets learn how photons , the particle
of light produces.
A photons can be produced by disturbing the
motion of electron such that there is a sudden change
in its electric field.
THE ORIGIN OF STARLIGHT
The temperature of a material is related to the
motion of its atoms. When it is hot the atom moves
fast. The heat energy of a material is the energy of
motion of its atoms or molecules. In general, the
higher the temperature of a material, the greater is
the energy of motion of its atoms and molecules and
more energetic are photons produced.
Since atoms have different speeds, gentle and
violent collisions are possible.
Gentle collisions – produce low-energy photons that
have long wavelengths
Violent collisions – produce high- energy photons that
have short wavelengths.
THE ORIGIN OF STARLIGHT

The shapes of the

curves indicate that the
violent collisions and gentle
collisions are rare. This
means that the intensity of
short wavelength is higher.
Thus as the temperature of
the material is increased, the
peak of the curves shift
toward the region of short
wavelength.
Black Body

The basic laws of radiation are based on the

concept of an ideal or perfect radiator called a
blackbody.
Blackbody = is an object that absorbs all
incident radiation falling upon it and reflects
none. A cavity hollowed out of a piece of
charcoal can be practically considered a
blackbody.
Black Body Radiation
Hot objects emits
electromagnetic radiation.
Such radiation is usually
considered to be radiation
from a blackbody.
The spectrum is
continuous and the
wavelength of maximum
intensity depends only on
the temperature of the
body. The higher the
temperature, the shorter is
the wavelength of
maximum intensity.
Black Body Radiation

Stars emit radiation almost like

blackbodies. Thus blackbody radiation is
important in astronomy. By observing the
colors of the stars, you can estimate their
temperatures.
One characteristics of blackbody
radiation implies that stars with higher
temperatures look bluer and the cooler stars
look redder.
Black Body Radiation

Another characteristics of blackbody

radiation is that stars with higher temperature
emit more radiation energy per second from
on square meter of their surface than do
stars with lower temperatures. In a hot gas,
the atoms move more rapidly. This means
that the collisions of atoms are more frequent
and subsequently, more protons will be
emitted per second and the intensity of
radiation will be large.
Black Body Radiation
The wavelength at which an object emits
the maximum amount of energy per second
from one-square meter surface is called
wavelength of maximum denoted bymax.
The higher the temperature of the object,
the shorter is its wavelength of maximum.
 Wien’s displacement law:
max = 3,000,000 nm / TK
(where TK is the temperature in Kelvin and nm is
nanometer).
Black Body Radiation
The total radiation emitted by one square
meter of a star’s surface per second equals a
constant times the star’s temperature raised to
the fourth power

I = T4

The hotter an object is, the more luminous it is:

where I = intensity of radiation;

Black Body Radiation
A blackbody at a higher temperature emits
more radiation at all wavelengths than cooler one.
A stars also emits electromagnetic radiation
at all wavelengths on the spectrum with its max at
some point. It determines the dominant color of the
star. Stars at lower temperatures appear red since
most of their emitted photons are at max which is at
longer wavelengths.
BLUE stars have temperatures of about
7500K while RED stars have temperature of about
3000K. Our sun which is dominantly YELLOW, has
a temperature of about 5800K.
Color and Temperature
Stars appear in
different colors, Orion
from blue (like Rigel, Betelgeuse
about 7500K)
via green / yellow (like
our sun, about 5800K)
to red (like Betelgeuse,
about 3000K).

Rigel

These colors tell us

about the star’s
temperature.
Thanks!!!