smaller mass. The exact amount of emission is linearly related with surface area, and thus is related to the mass of the object. Keep in mind, black body radiation is
Of course mass is "related" to the surface area of an object - but not linearly, and it's related to a whole lot of other properties too, so mass is a pretty useless property for predicting the intensity of radiation of a general object, even a black body.
I never said mass and SA were linear; only related. The exact mathmatical relationship depends on the shape of the object.
Likewise, the total emittable energy, as in how much energy can be emitted before the black body reaches ambient temperature, is directly proportional to its mass. More mass = more stored heat = more emittable photons.
I think you're going off on a tangent here. Who says it's cooling? Lots of things radiate light without cooling down - like a light bulb! [/quote]
True, but without a source of additional energy, things cool. And when talking about such objects, their mass directly determines the amount of black body radiation they emit - whether you measure in photons, watts, or whatever unit you choose.
Bryan
