Show 7 discusses the use of the astronomer's
second most important tool, specroscopy.
spectroscopy employs mechanisms that break
down light into parts. kind of like a prism.
These parts of light then can be analyzed.
Netwon was the first person to break down
light into it's spectrum.
Fraunhofer duplicated this experiment
about 80 years later and saw some
dark lines in the spectrum and wondered what they
were. He could not explain them.
Kirchhoff and (burner) Bunsen figured out
these dark lines were signitures of our elements.
You know, like, Helium, Iron, Calcium.
Today we use this knowledge to determine
what stars are made of. Between the colors
and the dark lines we get an excellent signiture
of the stuff of which the stars are made.
Not only that, because the dark lines shift and
get blurry, we can employ the DOPPLER effect
and determine the SPEED of a bodies rotation or
movement. Hot stuff!!!
What an age to be alive in. Just knowing that some
stars are mostly hydrogen make life worth living!
Hey, there are THREE (3) types of spectrums.
-CONTINUOUS--comes from solid matter
-EMMISSION---comes from rarified gasses
This is called BRIGHT LINE
-ABSORBTION--comes from a combiniation
of the above and is called
DARK LINE.
The reason for these spectra (made you Latin scholars
happy, didn't I?) lives in ATOMIC THEORY!
Now, fasten your seatbelts!
Each element is made of a particular atom.
All atoms have a Neutron, Protron and electrons.
The neutron and Protron make the Nucleus.
The electorns run in tracks (energy levels)
around the nuclues. Each track requires certain
level of energy.
Nuetron, Protron, Electron = Part of an Atom
When an electron is excited by thecorrect
(symaptheic) frequency of photon then it may be
raised to a higher energy level or a different track.
this produces a different color light.
When the electron bounces back to where it came from
again light is changed and may be absorbed.
this make dark lines.
The energy levels were first classified by
ANNIE CANON at Harvard--or HAVAD for those
of you from New England.
Well, the levels are (from high to low):
O B A F G K M
Remeber:
Oh, Be A Fine Guy, Kiss Me
This is called SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION.
Email: paulborkowski@galaxy5.com