What are luminous objects?

Luminous objects are defined as sources that give out light. This means that they generate their own light through various processes, such as incandescence (producing light due to heat) or fluorescence (emitting light when excited by energy). For example, the sun and light bulbs are considered luminous objects because they emit light that can illuminate other surfaces and their surroundings.

Understanding the nature of luminous objects is essential in physics, particularly when studying concepts related to light and vision. Luminous objects play a crucial role in lighting our environments and enabling vision in the presence of darkness.

In contrast, objects that absorb light do not emit their own light and simply take in light energy, while objects that reflect light do so without producing their own light source; they bounce back light that strikes them. Lastly, objects that do not interact with light would not have any interaction, whether in emitting, absorbing, or reflecting light, which does not define them as luminous. Thus, identifying luminous objects as those that produce their own light is key to differentiating them from other types of objects.