Photosphere

The photosphere is a star's outer shell from which light is radiated. It extends into a star's surface until the plasma becomes opaque, equivalent to an optical depth of approximately 2⁄3,^[1] or equivalently, a depth from which 50% of light will escape without being scattered.

A photosphere is the region of a luminous object, usually a star, that is transparent to photons of certain wavelengths.

Stars, except neutron stars, have no solid or liquid surface.^{[note 1]} Therefore, the photosphere is typically used to describe the Sun's or another star's visual surface.

^ Carroll, Bradley W. & Ostlie, Dale A. (1996). Modern Astrophysics. Addison-Wesley.
^ Kanaan, A.; et al. (WET) (2005). "Whole Earth Telescope observations of BPM 37093: A seismological test of crystallization theory in white dwarfs". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 432 (1): 219–224. arXiv:astro-ph/0411199v1. Bibcode:2005A&A...432..219K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041125. S2CID 7297628.
^ Jones, P. B. (2003). "Nature of Fault Planes in Solid Neutron Star Matter". The Astrophysical Journal. 595 (1): 342–345. arXiv:astro-ph/0210207. Bibcode:2003ApJ...595..342J. doi:10.1086/377351. S2CID 119335130.
^ Jones, P. B. (2004). "Heterogeneity of solid neutron-star matter: Transport coefficients and neutrino emissivity". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 351 (3): 956–966. arXiv:astro-ph/0403400. Bibcode:2004MNRAS.351..956J. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07834.x. S2CID 11877513.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[1] Carroll, Bradley W. & Ostlie, Dale A. (1996). Modern Astrophysics. Addison-Wesley.

[2] Kanaan, A.; et al. (WET) (2005). "Whole Earth Telescope observations of BPM 37093: A seismological test of crystallization theory in white dwarfs". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 432 (1): 219–224. arXiv:astro-ph/0411199v1. Bibcode:2005A&A...432..219K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041125. S2CID 7297628.

[3] Jones, P. B. (2003). "Nature of Fault Planes in Solid Neutron Star Matter". The Astrophysical Journal. 595 (1): 342–345. arXiv:astro-ph/0210207. Bibcode:2003ApJ...595..342J. doi:10.1086/377351. S2CID 119335130.

[4] Jones, P. B. (2004). "Heterogeneity of solid neutron-star matter: Transport coefficients and neutrino emissivity". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 351 (3): 956–966. arXiv:astro-ph/0403400. Bibcode:2004MNRAS.351..956J. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07834.x. S2CID 11877513.

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[note 1]