We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
In astronomy, virtually all of the information that we can learn about the Universe comes from various forms of light. Since planets, stars, and other objects in space are so far away and our ability to travel in space is rudimentary, we must glean as much information as possible from their light. Therefore, it behooves you to understand how light works and what kind of information it carries.
A great deal of the information in light from astronomical objects can be derived from the spectrum of that light. You can read about astronomical spectra in the first section of this chapter, and the later sections discuss some of the techniques astronomers use to interpret spectra.
Light and spectrum fundamentals
The most fundamental property that distinguishes one type of light from another is its color. This section introduces the concept of a spectrum as a graphical presentation of the brightness of different colors in light, and you'll learn how to translate between various quantitative properties associated with the color of light. Light behaves both as waves and particles, and you'll see how the properties related to color can be used to describe both the electromagnetic-wave and the photon-particle aspects of light. If you'd like to understand why light is called an electromagnetic wave and exactly what's doing the waving in light, you can find additional resources about the nature of light on the book's website.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
