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View Full Version : Solar Heating of Earth


Phrak
Oct25-10, 03:42 AM
Here's a question that's been bothering me, because I get an answer that seems far too small.

At one AU, ignoring atmosphere, how hot would the sun make a disk so that the two are in thermal equilibrium? Assume for simplicity that disk reflects heat back from its backside.

To obtain the absolute temperature of the Disk, do I take the absolute temperature of the sun and multiply by the ratio of the radius of the sun over the distance to the Earth?