List of Solar Units:
The natural units
for stars are set by
the Sun which is a
G2 V star.
These are the
solar units.
Of course, these units are natural only for us
Earthlings since the
Sun is our
star.
Klingons probably take
Kling as the
measure of all stars.
The most common solar units:
- solar mass M_☉ = 1.98855(25)*10**30 kg:
For
main-sequence stars
(i.e., those
hydrogen burning
in their cores),
the stellar mass range is
∼ 0.075--315 M_☉
(see Wikipedia: Stellar mass: Range;
Wikipedia: Red dwarf:
Description and characteristics;
Wikipedia: R136a1).
- solar luminosity L_☉ = 3.846*10**26 W:
For
main-sequence stars,
the luminosity range is
∼ 0.0015--10**6 L_☉
(see
Wikipedia: Red dwarf: Description and characteristics;
Wikipedia; O-type main-sequence star).
- solar radius R_☉ = 6.957*10**5 km = 109.1 R_eq_⊕ = 4.650*10**(-3) AU:
For
main-sequence stars,
stellar radius range is
∼ 0.08--10 R_☉
(see
Wikipedia: Red dwarf: Description and characteristics;
Wikipedia; O-type main-sequence star: Properties).
Red supergiants can be much larger:
up to over 1000 R_☉ = 4.650 AU
(Red supergiant star: Properties).
- solar composition:
Fiducial mass fraction values
0.73 hydrogen H;
0.25 helium (He);
0.02 metallicity Z.
Note, the term
solar composition
can mean either the composition of the present-day
solar photosphere
(solar radius R_☉ = 6.957*10**5 km = 109.1 R_eq_⊕ = 4.650*10**(-3) AU)
or the composition
primordial solar nebula
which is the most used meaning because of its greater importance for the
formation and evolution of the Solar System.
The fiducial values apply to both meanings.
Best values circa 2021 for the
primordial solar nebula:
0.7121 hydrogen H;
0.2725 helium (He);
0.0154 metallicity Z
(Asplund et al. 2021,
The chemical make-up of the Sun: A 2020 vision, p. 22; see also,
Wikipedia: Metallicity: Mass fraction).
See also
Solar System file:
solar_composition.html
for a plot of the
primordial solar nebula composition.
The
solar composition is to 1st order the
modern
cosmic composition, except that
the metallicity Z
(by mass fraction)
varies from ∼ 10**(-6) (for extreme
Population II stars:
e.g., Caffau's star (AKA SDSS J102915+172927):
see spectrum
plot
star_caffau.html)
to over 0.01--0.02 which is similar to the fiducial
solar composition
value 0.02.
Less common solar units:
- mean solar density ρ_☉ = 1.408 g/cm**3 >∼
ρ_water_fiducial = 1 g/cm**3:
Note the Sun
density
varies extremely (∼ 150 g/cm**3 at the center; ∼ 3*10**(-7) g/cm**3
at the
solar photosphere),
and so the
mean solar density is NOT a good overall characteristic
density for the
Sun
(see
Wikipedia: Sun: Core;
Wikipedia: Photosphere: Sun).
Other stars also have extreme
density variation, and so in general
there is NO good overall characteristic
density for
stars.
- solar effective temperature T_eff_☉ = 5777 K:
Note effective temperature
varies extremely for
stars, and so
there is NO good general characteristic
effective temperature
for stars.
Note we use
the Sun symbol ☉
and the Earth symbol ⊕
to indicate, respectively,
Sun
and Earth values.
In fact, the solar units
solar mass M_☉
and solar luminosity L_☉
are also used for
star clusters,
galaxies,
galaxy clusters,
dark halos,
etc.
This usage is NOT particularly natural because these
astronomical objects are
much more massive and luminous than stars.
However, since their luminous part is largely made of
stars,
solar units are, in a sense,
natural units.
The usage also leads to a rough estimation tool: e.g.,
if there are 10**11 M_☉
in stars, then
there are roughly 10**11
stars.
Local file: local link: solar_units.html.
File: Sun file:
solar_units.html.