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Name:   Chantal B.
Status:   student
Age:   17
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1999 - 2000
Question:
How does the Wien law permit astronomers to determine the tempeture of various star?

Replies:
There are actually three radiation laws attributed to Wien. The first, and probably the one that easiest to apply to the temperature of stars, states:

Lmax * T = const. = 0.2896.

That is, the product of the wavelength of maximum emission intensity, Lmax, and the absolute temperature, T is a constant. So by measuring the wavelength of maximum intensity, an estimate of the temperature of the star can be made.

Vince Calder


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