Astronomy and astrophysics Radiation processes and radiative transfer Concept
Effective temperature
Summary
The effective temperature of a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total power per unit area. By the Stefan–Boltzmann law, it is fixed by the luminosity and the radius of the body. It is one of the two coordinates of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram and a basic boundary condition for models of stellar structure. A real star is not a black body, so its effective temperature is a convenient summary rather than the temperature of any particular layer.
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About this page
| Tag | WETKRE94E0 |
|---|---|
| URI | m2://WETKRE94E0 |
| Kind | concept |
| Writing | W0 stub |
| MSC | 85A25, 85A15, 80A21 |
| Same as | |
| Changed | 3 November 2026 |
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