Linked from

The 31 pages that link to Optical depth, each with the reason it gives.

• Radiative transferRelated: It indicates whether radiation travels freely or interacts repeatedly with matter.

• Interstellar extinctionRelated: It connects the amount of intervening material to the observed reduction in stellar flux.

• Mean free pathRelated: It compares path length with the local mean free path to estimate attenuation.

• Stellar atmosphereRelated: It helps define the atmospheric depth from which radiation can escape.

• Atmospheric perspectiveRelated: Greater optical depth means more intervening atmosphere alters the light from distant forms.

• Atmospheric windowRelated: Low optical depth corresponds to relatively high atmospheric transmission.

• 21-centimeter lineRelated: It governs how much 21-centimeter radiation passes through or is absorbed by hydrogen.

• Stellar radiusRelated: A photospheric radius is often assigned near optical depth one.

• Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effectRelated: It sets the fraction of background photons scattered through the cluster.

• TransmittanceRelated: It describes attenuation that corresponds to exponentially decreasing transmittance.

• Planetary ringsRelated: It quantifies how opaque a ring appears along a line of sight.

• Absorption (electromagnetic radiation)Related: It relates absorption strength and path length to the surviving intensity.

• Transmission spectroscopyRelated: Optical depth determines which atmospheric layers contribute at each wavelength.

• Lyman-alpha forestRelated: Optical depth connects transmitted quasar flux to the amount of absorbing hydrogen.

• OpacityRelated: Integrating opacity along a path gives the optical depth that determines transmission.

• Absorption coefficientRelated: It is the absorption coefficient integrated over the traveled distance.

• Radiative transfer equationRelated: It replaces physical distance with a measure of accumulated attenuation.

• Spectral radianceRelated: It indicates how strongly absorption and scattering attenuate measured radiance.

• VisibilityRelated: Optical depth expresses the cumulative atmospheric attenuation between an object and an observer.

• Neutral hydrogenRelated: It governs how hydrogen’s 21-centimeter emission is altered as it travels through gas.

• Atmospheric extinctionRelated: It provides a direct measure of the atmosphere's total light-blocking effect.

• Dark nebulaRelated: High optical depth accounts for the dark appearance of dense clouds.

• Optical coatingRelated: Designs tune optical thickness to make interface reflections interfere as intended.

• Brightness temperatureRelated: An optically thick source can approach the blackbody radiance used to define its brightness temperature.

• PhotosphereRelated: The photosphere is conventionally located near optical depth one.

• Diffuse reflectanceRelated: It helps explain how sample thickness and attenuation affect the light that escapes.

• Collective effects in atomic physicsRelated: It indicates how readily light propagating through an ensemble can couple atoms together.

• Diffuse sky radiationRelated: It summarizes the atmospheric extinction that shapes diffuse light reaching the ground.

• Gamma-ray burst emission mechanismsRelated: Its decline determines when photons escape from the expanding burst outflow.

• Transparency and translucencyRelated: Optical depth combines losses that determine how much light gets through.