Book contents
- Fundamentals of Astrophysics
- Reviews
- Fundamentals of Astrophysics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- Part I Stellar Properties
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Astronomical Distances
- 3 Stellar Luminosity
- 4 Surface Temperature from a Star’s Color
- 5 Stellar Radius from Luminosity and Temperature
- 6 Light Intensity and Absorption
- 7 Surface Gravity and Escape/Orbital Speed
- 8 Stellar Ages and Lifetimes
- 9 Stellar Space Velocities
- 10 Using Binary Systems to Determine Masses and Radii
- 11 Stellar Rotation
- 12 Light Intensity and Absorption
- 13 Observational Methods
- 14 Our Sun
- Part II Stellar Structure and Evolution
- Part III Interstellar Medium and Formation of Stars and Planets
- Part IV Our Milky Way and Other Galaxies
- Part V Cosmology
- Book part
- Index
7 - Surface Gravity and Escape/Orbital Speed
from Part I - Stellar Properties
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2025
Book contents
- Fundamentals of Astrophysics
- Reviews
- Fundamentals of Astrophysics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- Part I Stellar Properties
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Astronomical Distances
- 3 Stellar Luminosity
- 4 Surface Temperature from a Star’s Color
- 5 Stellar Radius from Luminosity and Temperature
- 6 Light Intensity and Absorption
- 7 Surface Gravity and Escape/Orbital Speed
- 8 Stellar Ages and Lifetimes
- 9 Stellar Space Velocities
- 10 Using Binary Systems to Determine Masses and Radii
- 11 Stellar Rotation
- 12 Light Intensity and Absorption
- 13 Observational Methods
- 14 Our Sun
- Part II Stellar Structure and Evolution
- Part III Interstellar Medium and Formation of Stars and Planets
- Part IV Our Milky Way and Other Galaxies
- Part V Cosmology
- Book part
- Index
Summary
Mass is clearly a physically important parameter for a star, as it will determine the strength of the gravity that tries to pull the star’s matter together. We discuss one basic way we can determine mass, from orbits of stars in stellar binaries, and see the range of stellar masses. This leads us to the virial theorem, which describes a stably bound gravitational system.
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- Fundamentals of Astrophysics , pp. 43 - 48Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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