Eddington number
E327445
The Eddington number is a dimensionless quantity in astrophysics that represents the maximum luminosity a star can have before radiation pressure overcomes gravitational attraction, leading to mass loss.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Eddington number canonical | 2 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3096128 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Eddington number Context triple: [Arthur Stanley Eddington, knownFor, Eddington number]
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A.
Numberwang
Numberwang is a surreal, fast-paced parody of television quiz shows from the British comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, known for its nonsensical rules and absurd humor.
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B.
Eddington site
The Eddington site is a major University of Cambridge development that provides new academic, residential, and community facilities as part of the university’s northwest Cambridge expansion.
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C.
Niven
Niven is a Scottish-origin surname most famously associated with the English actor David Niven.
-
D.
Wallis
Wallis is a given name and surname used in English-speaking countries, often considered a variant of Wallace.
-
E.
Muirhead
Muirhead is a small village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, situated near Glasgow and known primarily as a residential commuter community.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Eddington number Target entity description: The Eddington number is a dimensionless quantity in astrophysics that represents the maximum luminosity a star can have before radiation pressure overcomes gravitational attraction, leading to mass loss.
-
A.
Numberwang
Numberwang is a surreal, fast-paced parody of television quiz shows from the British comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, known for its nonsensical rules and absurd humor.
-
B.
Eddington site
The Eddington site is a major University of Cambridge development that provides new academic, residential, and community facilities as part of the university’s northwest Cambridge expansion.
-
C.
Niven
Niven is a Scottish-origin surname most famously associated with the English actor David Niven.
-
D.
Wallis
Wallis is a given name and surname used in English-speaking countries, often considered a variant of Wallace.
-
E.
Muirhead
Muirhead is a small village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, situated near Glasgow and known primarily as a residential commuter community.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
astrophysical parameter
ⓘ
dimensionless quantity ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
accreting compact objects
ⓘ
accretion disks ⓘ stars ⓘ |
| category |
radiative transfer
ⓘ
stellar astrophysics ⓘ theoretical astrophysics ⓘ |
| constraint | Γ is non-negative ⓘ |
| dependsOn |
luminosity of the star
ⓘ
mass of the star ⓘ opacity of stellar material ⓘ |
| describes | ratio of stellar luminosity to Eddington luminosity ⓘ |
| field | astrophysics ⓘ |
| hasComponent |
Eddington luminosity L_Edd
ⓘ
linked to:
Eddington limit
gravitational constant G ⓘ opacity κ ⓘ speed of light c ⓘ stellar luminosity L ⓘ stellar mass M ⓘ |
| hasDefinition | Γ = L / L_Edd ⓘ |
| hasPhysicalMeaning |
Γ < 1 implies gravity dominates over radiation pressure
ⓘ
Γ > 1 implies radiation pressure exceeds gravity ⓘ Γ ≈ 1 implies radiation pressure comparable to gravity ⓘ |
| hasThresholdCondition | Γ = 1 corresponds to Eddington limit ⓘ |
| hasUnit | dimensionless ⓘ |
| isDimensionless | true ⓘ |
| mathematicalForm | Γ = κ L / (4 π c G M) ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Arthur Stanley Eddington ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
Eddington limit
ⓘ
Eddington luminosity ⓘ
linked to:
Eddington limit
Eddington ratio ⓘ
linked to:
Eddington limit
|
| relatedTo |
gravitational attraction
ⓘ
mass loss from stars ⓘ radiation pressure ⓘ stellar winds ⓘ |
| symbol |
Γ
ⓘ
γ_E ⓘ |
| usedFor |
assessing stability of luminous stars
ⓘ
characterizing massive stars near Eddington limit ⓘ determining onset of radiation-driven mass loss ⓘ |
| usedIn |
models of luminous blue variables
ⓘ
quasar and AGN accretion models ⓘ theory of massive star evolution ⓘ |
| usedToInfer |
likelihood of strong stellar winds
ⓘ
proximity of an object to its Eddington limit ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Eddington number Description of subject: The Eddington number is a dimensionless quantity in astrophysics that represents the maximum luminosity a star can have before radiation pressure overcomes gravitational attraction, leading to mass loss.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.