Chapter 13 notes in PSM, p. 109.
Astronomers get a handle on the wattage per square meter of the surface of a star by using the Stefan-Boltzmann law, p. 109 of the PSM. By checking the spectrum of the star with a diffraction grating, they can estimate the temperature in Kelvins. Our star, the sun, has a surface temperature of about 5800 K. This means each square meter on the surface puts out about 64 million watts!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Stefan-Boltzmann
