Wien’s Law The Color and Temperature of Stars

A Blackbody A Blackbody is an object that absorbs all E-M radiation that hits it. Because no light is reflected it appears black. Such objects also emit E-M radiation well when hot. Stars, Planets, and most other “solid” objects act like blackbodies emitting a continuous range of E-M radiation But how bright the light is varies with frequency

Stars, Planets and other solid objects shine most brightly with a color that matches their temperature Hotter stars have their “white light” tinted blue Cooler stars have a yellow tint to their “white light” And the coolest have a red tint

Wien’s Law Wien’s law tells surface temperature of a star based on what wavelength color is brightest. It is…. (copy formula)

Stars tinted these colors have these surface temperatures: Blue is about 12,000 °K Yellow is about 6000 °K Red is about 3000 °K