Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/s30/3/b/solution

At full phase, reflected-light contrast is
where is the geometric albedo, and other phases multiply this by a phase function normalized to one at full phase. Thermal contrast for uniform blackbody emitters is
The corresponding bolometric thermal ratio is . If zero internal heating and equilibrium are assumed, energy balance also gives a bolometric reflected ratio for the luminosity ratio; it is not a directional full-phase contrast.
Earth's thermal emission peaks around , and solar emission around . At the thermal contrast for is negligible, about ; reflected light dominates. Taking illustrative visible gives . A Bond albedo does not uniquely determine a spectral geometric albedo; a Lambert sphere with Bond albedo would instead have , giving . At , the Planck function gives for ; using gives about . These are order estimates, since the terrestrial spectrum is not a uniform blackbody.

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