Black-body Radiation

Dense bodies (solids, liquids, and high-density gases) emit a continuous spectrum of light that is referred to as blackbody radiation. The amount and type of light depends on the surface temperature of the emitting body. The temperatures shown below are in kelvins and the curves show that as the surface temperature increases the amount of light emitted increases, and the peak of the light curve moves to shorter wavelengths. The net effect is that objects with high surface temperatures emit more short wavelength light than objects with lower surface temperatures. This relationship can be seen in Wien's Law (see the astronomy formula sheet for details).

black-body-curves