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Brightness vs. Distance

The brightness of a star or light source decreases with the inverse square of the distance from the source due to the surface area of the spherical wavefront increasing with distance from the source. The inverse square law states that brightness is equal to the luminosity of the source divided by 4π times the distance squared. Doubling or tripling the distance from the source decreases the brightness by a factor of 4 or 9, respectively. Examples are provided to demonstrate calculating brightness, luminosity, or distance given two of the three variables.

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51 views

Brightness vs. Distance

The brightness of a star or light source decreases with the inverse square of the distance from the source due to the surface area of the spherical wavefront increasing with distance from the source. The inverse square law states that brightness is equal to the luminosity of the source divided by 4π times the distance squared. Doubling or tripling the distance from the source decreases the brightness by a factor of 4 or 9, respectively. Examples are provided to demonstrate calculating brightness, luminosity, or distance given two of the three variables.

Uploaded by

soccersups
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Brightness vs.

Distance

“The Inverse Square Law”


The Factors that
affect Brightness

The power of the source

The distance from the source

The intervening medium


The POWER of the source

Definition: the total amount of energy


emitted by the source per second.

For a star this is called “LUMINOSITY”.

The unit of Energy: JOULE.

The unit of Power: WATT = 1 joule/sec


The Atmospheric medium
Outside measuring the sun or the stars:
Many possible conditions --clouds, fog, water
vapor, air pollution, smoke. All absorb or
scatter light which decreases the amount that
comes through.

Also, sunlight and starlight reflect off the “top”


of the atmosphere and never reach the Earth.
For the sun this may be as much as 25%.
Brightness
Definition for a STAR: the amount of
energy that lands on a square meter of
Earth every second.

Unit: watts/square meter (W/m2)

Similar for a light bulb: The unit is


lumen/sq. meter which is called a LUX
Summary so far for Stars
The LUMINOSITY of a star is the total
amount of Power (Energy/sec) emitted by
the star.
Unit: WATT

The BRIGHTNESS of a star is the amount


of that Energy that lands on a square
meter of Earth every second.
Unit: WATT/m2
From the Star to the Earth
The Energy that leaves the star spreads
out uniformly in all directions.
Imagine a sphere surrounding that star
some distance from it. (Observe the
example of the expanding balloon or the
“Hoberman Sphere”.)
All the Energy that has left the star has to
pass through that spherical surface.
Star to Earth (2)
Suppose the sphere has a radius of r.
Then the surface area of that sphere
is 4πr2.

The total energy/second leaving the


star is flowing through that area of
4πr2.
Star to Earth (3)
Summarizing:
Energy/sec = power = the “Luminosity” of
the star, L.
Total area of the sphere = 4πr2
So the energy flowing through each square
meter of the sphere every second is

L/4πr2
Star to Earth (4)

Now extend the sphere to reach the Earth.


That makes r = d (the distance to Earth
from the star)

The energy landing on a square meter of the


Earth is now L/ 4πd2. We call that the
star’s brightness, B.
Star to Earth (final result)
The final equation becomes:

B= L/4πd2

B = Brightness of the star in w/m2


L = Luminosity of the star in watts
d = distance to the star in meters
The “Inverse Square Law”

The equation, B= L/4πd2

is called the “Inverse Square Law”.

Inverse: B gets smaller as d gets larger


Square: the relationship goes by 1/d2, not
just 1/d.
Basics of the Inv Sq Law
If the distance, d, is doubled then the
brightness, B, decreases by a factor of 1
divided by 22 or _ the brightness.

If d is tripled, then B decreases by a factor


of 1 divided by 32 or 1/9 the brightness.

Etc.
Sample problem
The Sun has luminosity of 3.9 E26 watts.
What is its brightness on the Earth, 1 AU
away?

B = 3.9 E26/(4π(1.5 Ε11)2)

= 1380 w/m2

(It’s ~ 1000 w/m2 on the Earth’s surface!


Forms of the Inv Sq Law

B = L/4πd2

L = 4πd2B

d = Sqrt (L/4πB)
More examples

Jupiter: L = 109 watts, d = 4.2 AU, B = ?


Saturn: L = 4 x 108 watts, B = 2 x 10-17
w/m2, d = ? (in AU)
Star: L = 2.8 x 1026 watts, d = 2500 LY, B
=?
Star: B = 8.2 x 10-16 w/m2, L = 5.6 x 1030
watts, d = ? (LY and pc)
Answers
Jupiter: B = 2.0 E(-16) w/m2

Saturn: d = 1.26 E12 m = 8.4 AU

Star 1: B = 4.0 E(-14) w/m2

Star 2: d = 2.3 E22 m. = 2.5 E6 LY

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