Eddington limit
E60303
The Eddington limit is the maximum luminosity a star or accreting object can have before radiation pressure overcomes gravity and drives away its outer layers.
Aliases (4)
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
astrophysical concept
→
radiation pressure limit → |
| appliesTo |
accreting black holes
→
accreting neutron stars → accreting white dwarfs → accretion disks → stars → |
| assumes |
isotropic radiation field
→
spherical symmetry → steady-state conditions → |
| canBeExceededIn |
beamed radiation sources
→
non-spherical accretion flows → super-Eddington accretion regimes → |
| consequenceOfExceeding |
disruption of steady accretion
→
mass loss from the star or accretor → outward acceleration of stellar material → |
| defines |
maximum luminosity of a star
→
maximum luminosity of an accreting object → |
| dependsOn |
composition of the gas
→
mass of the central object → opacity of the material → |
| field |
astrophysics
→
high-energy astrophysics → stellar astrophysics → |
| forSolarComposition |
L_Edd ≈ 1.3×10^38 (M/M☉) erg s^-1
→
L_Edd ≈ 3.3×10^4 (M/M☉) L☉ → |
| governs |
maximum steady accretion luminosity
→
onset of strong stellar winds in massive stars → |
| historicalContext |
introduced in early 20th century
→
|
| mathematicalForm |
L_Edd = 4πGMc/κ
→
|
| namedAfter |
Arthur Stanley Eddington
→
|
| physicalBasis |
balance between radiation pressure and gravity
→
|
| proportionalTo |
mass of the object
→
|
| relatedConcept |
Eddington luminosity
→
Eddington ratio → opacity → radiation pressure → |
| symbol |
L_Edd
→
|
| typicalCompositionAssumption |
fully ionized hydrogen
→
|
| typicalOpacityAssumption |
electron scattering opacity
→
|
| usedIn |
X-ray binary modeling
→
accretion theory → active galactic nucleus modeling → black hole growth constraints → models of massive star evolution → quasar luminosity estimates → |
| usedToInfer |
constraints on luminous accretors
→
upper limits on stellar masses → |
Referenced by (7)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
Arthur Stanley Eddington
→
Arthur Stanley Eddington ("Eddington luminosity") → Arthur Stanley Eddington ("Eddington mass-luminosity relation") → Edwin E. Salpeter ("Salpeter time") → |
knownFor |
|
Chandrasekhar limit
→
Eddington limit ("Eddington luminosity") → Eddington limit ("Eddington ratio") → |
relatedConcept |