Photonics Dictionary

A blackbody source, often simply referred to as a blackbody, is a theoretical or practical physical object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation incident upon it and emits radiation in a...

A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical, made of an opaque material and insulated from thermal effects, with a small...

SI unit of luminous intensity. It is defined as one sixtieth the normal intensity of one square centimeter of a blackbody at the solidification temperature of platinum. A point source of one candela...

A colorimetric concept related to the apparent visual color of a source (not its temperature). For a blackbody, the color temperature is equal to the temperature in kelvin.

Temperature of the blackbody having chromaticity nearest to that of the test source on a specified chromaticity diagram.

Temperature of the blackbody having a spectral power distribution approximately proportional to the test source at all wavelengths; it follows that the two have the same chromaticity.

A thermal source that emits less radiation than a blackbody under identical temperature conditions.

Any object that emits radiation of a wavelength lying between about 0.75 to 1000 µm. A calibrated secondary source usually is a heated cavity (blackbody) or a filament lamp rated in wattage...