Question

i. Altair
ii. Procyon
iii. Epsilon Indi

Which of the stars have longer wavelenght of maximum emission \[\lambda _{\max}\] than the sun?

How do I find this information? What does Wavelenght of maximum emission mean? The attached file showes the data from Starry Night which I should use

Answer 1

This is referring to the phenomenon of black body radiation. http://quantumfreak.com/introduction-to-blackbody-radiation/
The bottom graph shows that the hotter a star is (each hump is a different temperature) the brighter the light (the peak is higher) and the more the peak shifts toward high energy wavelengths (blue, UV). \[\lambda _{\max}\] refers to the brightest wavelength being emitted. The equation that calculates \[\lambda _{\max}\] based on temperature is b / T where b = 2.8977×10−3 and T is in Kelvin.

Answer 2

Thanks :)