Radiance

Radiance

Radiance and spectral radiance are measures of the quantity of radiation that passes through or is emitted from a surface and falls within a given solid angle in a specified direction. They are used in radiometry to characterize diffuse emission and reflection of electromagnetic radiation. In astrophysics, radiance is also used to quantify emission of neutrinos and other particles. The SI unit of radiance is watts per steradian per square metre (W·sr−1·m−2), while that of spectral radiance is W·sr−1·m−2·Hz−1 or W·sr−1·m−3 depending on if the spectrum is a function of frequency or of wavelength.

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Famous quotes containing the word radiance:

    Surrealism ... is the forbidden flame of the proletariat embracing the insurrectional dawn—enabling us to rediscover at last the revolutionary moment: the radiance of the workers’ councils as a life profoundly adored by those we love.
    —“Manifesto of the Arab Surrealist Movement” (1975)

    The One remains, the many change and pass;
    Heaven’s light forever shines, Earth’s shadows fly;
    Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
    Stains the white radiance of Eternity,
    Until Death tramples it to fragments.
    Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)

    Give me your poppies,
    let their radiance spill
    rapture
    for ever;
    love me,
    O love me.
    Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)