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Stellar Property Observed Quantities Physics
     
     
Temperature Spectrum - Wavelength of peak of spectrum Blackbody radiation
  Spectrum - Strength of particular absorption lines atomic physics
     
Chemical Composition spectrum - Presence of particular absorption lines atomic physics
     
Distance (direct) Parallax Angle (Change in apparent geometry
  angular position 6 months apart  
     
Radial Velocity redshift or blueshift of spectral lines Doppler Shift
Transverse Velocity Proper motion (apparent change  
  (over time) in position on the sky) geometry
  + distance (somehow!)  
     
Luminosity apparent brightness Inverse Square Law
  + distance (somehow!)  
     
Mass period + size of orbit of a binary star (*) Gravity
     
Radius velocity of stars in Doppler shift
  spectroscopic eclipsing binary  
  + length of eclipse distance = velocity x time
     
Radius temperature Blackbody radiation
  + luminosity  
     
Distance (indirect) luminosity from Temperature and Luminosity Class calibrated HR diagram
  + apparent brightness Inverse square law
     
(*) Size of Orbit for ``visual binary" angular size geometry
  + distance  
(*) Size of Orbit for    
``eclipsing spectroscopic binary" velocity + period Doppler Shift & velocity=dist/time
     




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Shauna Sallmen 2002-03-06