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Concept

Wien's displacement law

A grid-like pattern with ripples and mist-like textures is set against a dark background, illustrating the concept of Wien's displacement law.

The rule, formulated by Wilhelm Wien in 1893, that the wavelength of peak emission from a black body is inversely proportional to its absolute temperature. Double the temperature, halve the peak wavelength. A 3000-kelvin filament peaks in the near-infrared; a 6000-kelvin Sun peaks in green; a 12,000-kelvin star peaks in the ultraviolet. The law gives astronomers a thermometer for objects they will never touch.

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