Astrophysics (Index)About

mass-luminosity relation

(M/L relation)
(model relating stellar mass and luminosity)

A mass-luminosity relation relates a star's mass with its luminosity:

L / LSun = ( M / MSun )a

Such a relation is thought to hold (roughly) within various classifications of stars: a value of ­a = 3.5 is often used for a very rough estimate for main sequence stars (which demonstrates the huge variation found in the luminosity of stars):

solar masses solar luminosities suggested by a = 3.5
0.5 0.088
2 ~11
10 ~3200
20 ~36,000
50 ~880,000

Better values of a can be determined for classes of stars, e.g., based on the characteristics of their convection, and/or their general mass range. Stars close to the Eddington luminosity have a close to 1. Eclipsing binaries and parallax measurements help confirm the relation(s).

More reliable relations have been devised by including additional factors, e.g., age and/or radius.


Analogous mass-luminosity relations have been determined for galaxies, which offer means of estimating the masses of distant galaxies.


(equation,model,relation,mass,luminosity,stars)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass-luminosity_relation
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/herrus.html#c3
https://dictionary.obspm.fr/index.php?showAll=1&formSearchTextfield=mass-luminosity+relation
https://www.astronomynotes.com/starsun/s8.htm
https://www.e-education.psu.edu/astro801/content/l7_p3.html
http://www2.lowell.edu/users/massey/masses.pdf
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1938ApJ....88..472K/abstract

Referenced by pages:
initial mass function (IMF)
mass-radius relation
stellar radius determination

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