Using Weins Law, compute the peak wavelegnth for an O type star and M type star.?

Question

Based on their respective temperatures, what is the comparitive luminosity ratio between the two stars? Because examples of these 2 types of stars are of comparible size, how would that effect their respective luminosities, and based on this intristic property of these examples, how would you regard your computation of the respective luminosites?

(Note: This is a problem ive been working on for school, any help would be greatly appreciated)-Thanks

Answer 1

The computation is straightforward:

wave-length (in cm) = .29/T (T in degrees Kelvin).

Stars of a given spectral type have a range of temperatures, so pick some standard. Let's say that on average O type stars have an effective temperature of 50,000K

.29/50000 = 0.0000058 cm

I'll let you convert that to nanometers.

M types may average 2900K, so you get

.29/2900 = 0.0001 cm

HTH

Charles