Solar Mass, Luminosity

The Sun is a fairly average star, and its mass and luminosity serve as good standards for comparison with other objects. The luminosity and mass of stars and galaxies is generally given in terms of the solar mass and solar luminosity. The solar mass is 2 × 10³³ grams. One solar luminosity is 4 × 10³³ ergs per second. Luminosity has the same units as Power, e.g. energy per second. The Watt is the familiar unit of power. For comparison, a 400 Watt light bulb is 10^-24 solar luminosities.

Figure: Our Mr. Sun