Black-body radiation

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Black-body radiation is the thermal electromagnetic radiation emitted from a body in thermodynamic equilibrium with its environment. A black body is an idealized opaque and non-reflective body. The radiation emitted is a continuous spectrum over all possible radiation wavelengths that depends only on the body's temperature. A perfectly-insulated enclosure which is in thermal equilibrium internally contains black-body radiation and will emit it through a hole made in its wall, provided the hole is small enough to have a negligible effect upon the equilibrium. The thermal radiation spontaneously emitted by many ordinary objects can be approximated as black-body radiation. Of particular importance, although planets and stars (including the Earth and Sun) are neither in thermal equilibrium with their surroundings nor perfect black bodies, black-body radiation is still a good first approximation for the energy they emit. A black body at room temperature (23 °C (296 K; 73 °F)) radiates mostly...

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