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What Does the Symbol for a Star’s Luminosity Mean?

-- GAREBO | August 26, 2020

Question:

I was reading up on the various stars’ luminosities; and, I ran into a symbol with which I am unfamiliar.
It’s an upper case letter L followed by a lower case letter o which has a small dot in its center.
What does it mean?
Thanks, Doc !

-- GAREBO

Answer:

The common symbol which refers to the luminosity of a star is called “solar luminosity”, indicated by an upper-case “L” with a subscript circle with a dot in the middle. The circle with a dot in the middle is the symbol used to indicate the Sun. The solar luminosity unit is a measure of the Sun’s radiant energy and is equal to 3.828×10^(26) Watts.

-- Jeff Mangum

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