View Full Version : how to estimate star's mass without gravitation constant?
hi! title tells all
Hey!
If it is a main sequence star, you can tell what spectral class it belongs to by looking at its color. Every class has certain features, among them mass.
franznietzsche
Dec10-04, 04:22 AM
Using absolute luminosity, and the surface temperature(represented by spectral class), you could calculate the total Mass.
Welcome to Physics Forums smm! (and a belated welcome to orange as well).
I'm not sure I understand smm's question ... no matter how you arrive at an estimate of the mass of a star, somewhere in the chain of observation and logic, you will use G.
For example, if you estimate its mass from its absolute luminosity, you are relying indirectly on G, because theories which lead to an understanding of the mass-luminosity relationship have gravity (and hence G) as a key element. Similarly, if you use a mass-luminosity relationship as a purely observational device (i.e. you've observed enough stars to plot the relationship, even if you have no idea of why it should be like that), you'll find that observations which established the mass of stars in your empirical relationship depended on G.
Perhaps you could clarify your question a bit for us please smm?
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