Effective temperature

The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation.[1][2] Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature when the body's emissivity curve (as a function of wavelength) is not known.

When the star's or planet's net emissivity in the relevant wavelength band is less than unity (less than that of a black body), the actual temperature of the body will be higher than the effective temperature. The net emissivity may be low due to surface or atmospheric properties, such as the greenhouse effect.

  1. ^ Archie E. Roy, David Clarke (2003). Astronomy. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-7503-0917-2.
  2. ^ Stull, R. (2000). Meteorology For Scientists and Engineers. A technical companion book with Ahrens' Meteorology Today, Brooks/Cole, Belmont CA, ISBN 978-0-534-37214-9, p. 400.