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Stellar Atmospheres: Basic Processes and Equations

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Determination of Atmospheric Parameters of B-, A-, F- and G-Type Stars

Part of the book series: GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences ((GEPS))

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Abstract

The content of this chapter is a very quick summary of key concepts that concern the interaction between photons created in the stellar interior and plasma, which is the basis of the physical processes occurring in stellar atmospheres. The dominant mechanism of energy transport through the surface layers of a typical star is radiation. This is the reason why radiative transfer is our main focus here. We start by setting up the differential equation describing the flow of radiation through an infinitesimal volume and all the related quantities. We conclude with a generic description of the equations used to compute an atmospheric model.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We recall here the definition of effective temperature of a star; it is defined as the temperature of a black body having the same power output per unit area as the star.

References

  • Gray DF (2005) The observation and analysis of stellar photospheres. Cambridge University Press, New York

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  • Hubeny I (1996) Stellar Atmospheres Theory: and introduction. In: De Greve JP, Blomme R, Hensberge H (eds) Stellar atmospheres: theory and observations. Springer, Brussels

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  • Mihalas D (1978) Stellar atmospheres, 2nd edn. W. H. Freeman & Company, San Francisco

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Catania, Italy

    Giovanni Catanzaro

Authors
  1. Giovanni Catanzaro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Catanzaro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute, Wrocław, Poland

    Ewa Niemczura

  2. Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, United Kingdom

    Barry Smalley

  3. Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Mazowieckie, Poland

    Wojtek Pych

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Catanzaro, G. (2014). Stellar Atmospheres: Basic Processes and Equations. In: Niemczura, E., Smalley, B., Pych, W. (eds) Determination of Atmospheric Parameters of B-, A-, F- and G-Type Stars. GeoPlanet: Earth and Planetary Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06956-2_2

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