The discussion revolves around evaluating the solar photon flux for a satellite in low Earth orbit, using the solar constant and black body radiation principles. The original poster poses a question about calculating the photon flux based on the distance from the Sun and the solar constant value.
The discussion is ongoing, with various methods being explored to relate energy flux to photon flux. Some participants have suggested integrating over wavelengths and frequencies, while others are clarifying the necessary units and calculations. There is no explicit consensus yet, but productive questions and methods are being shared.
Participants note that the assignment is based on lecture notes provided by the professor, and there is a lack of extensive coverage on certain concepts like solid angles. The original poster and others express confusion about the integration process and the expected range of answers.
stunner5000pt said:we could replace h with c/lambda or c/frequency... couldn't we?
so then the resulting integral is counting hte number of photons... and we don't even need the other integrals?