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Mass–Luminosity Relation

How a main-sequence star's brightness scales with its mass.

Formula

LL⊙≈(MM⊙)3.5\frac{L}{L_\odot} \approx \left(\frac{M}{M_\odot}\right)^{3.5}

Variables

LLuminosity
MMass
\odotSolar value

Example

A 2-solar-mass star shines about 11 times brighter than the Sun

Did You Know?

Because luminosity climbs so steeply with mass, the heaviest stars burn out in a few million years while the Sun lasts ten billion.

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