Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 315 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For , both stars illuminate the circumbinary planet at approximately distance . Treat them as blackbodies, neglect internal heating, and assume Bond albedo and uniform global reradiation. The absorbed and emitted powers areThus the equilibrium temperature of a circumbinary planet isFor an example, take , , , , , , circular coplanar orbits, and . ThenThe cooler star contributes only of the hotter star's luminosity in this example.
An opaque isothermal atmosphere emits , with no absorption or emission bands. The Wien displacement law puts the maximum of this wavelength spectrum near . At observer distance , the planetary spectral flux is .
Isothermal circumbinary-planet emission spectrum
. The emergent surface flux for the example above. The wavelength spectrum peaks near ten micrometres; the exactly isothermal opaque model has no molecular bands.