Ma. Catalina B.

Mallillin IV 31 BSE General Science Written Report in Astronomy Understanding Spectra Three Important Properties Spectra:

Professor Shila Sia January 17, 204

1. There are three kinds of spectra: (i.) continuous spectra (ii.) absorption or dark line spectra (iii.) emission or bright line spectra 2. Photons are emitted or absorbed when an electron in an atom makes a transition from one energy level to another. 3. Most modern astronomy books display spectra as graphs of intensity versus wavelength. Lyman series - is the series of transitions and resulting ultraviolet emission lines of the hydrogen atom
as an electron goes from n 2 to n = 1 (where n is the principal quantum number) the lowest energy level of the electron.

Balmer series - is the designation of one of a set of six different named series describing the spectral line emissions of the hydrogen atom. Paschen series - are the series of lines in the spectrum of the hydrogen atom which corresponds to transitions between the state with principal quantum number n = 3 and successive higher states. In 1859, long before scientists understood atoms and energy levels, the German scientist Gustav Kirchhoff formulated three rules, now known as Kirchhoffs laws, that describes the three types of spectra. Kirrchhoffs Laws Law I: The Continuous Spectrum A solid, liquid, or dense gas excited to emit light will radiate at all wavelengths and thus produce a continuous spectrum Law II: The Emission Spectrum A low-density gas excited to emit light will do so at specific wavelengths and thus produce an emission spectrum. Law III: The Absorption Spectrum If light comprising a continuous spectrum passes through a cool, low-density gas, the result will be an absorption spectrum.

Modern astronomers rarely work with spectra as bands of light. Spectra are usually recorded digitally, so it is easy to represent them as graphs of intensity versus wavelength. Chemical Composition Astronomers must consider that an elements spectral lines may be absent from an objects spectrum not because that element is missing but because that object has the wrong temperature to excite those atoms to the energy levels that produce visible spectral lines. Such results show that nearly all stars, and most of the visible matter in the universe, have a chemical composition similar to the suns about 91% of the atoms are hydrogen, and 8.9% are helium, with small traces of heavier elements. Doppler Effect The Doppler Effect is the apparent change in the wavelength of radiation caused by the motion of the source. A shift in the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. The light will appear to have a shorter wavelength, making it slightly bluer. Because the light is shifted slightly toward the blue end of spectrum, this is called blueshift. After the light source has passed you and is moving away, the peaks of successive waves seem farther apart so the light has a longer wavelength and is redder. This is a redshift The amount of change in the wavelength, and thus the size of the Doppler shift, depends on the velocity of the source. If a star is moving toward Earth, it has blue shift and each of its spectral lines is shifted very slightly toward shorter wavelengths. If it is receding from Earth, it has a red shift.

The Doppler formula laboratory wavelength 0 the wavelength a certain spectral line would have if the source of the light is not moving relative to spectograph.

In the spectrum of a star, this spectral line is shifted by some small amount, . If the wavelength is increased (a red shift), is positive; if the wavelength is decreased (a blue shift) is negative. The radial velocity Vo of the star is given by the Doppler formula: = In Astronomy, radial velocities are almost given in kilometers per second, so c is expressed as 300,000 km/s.

Two important things to understand in Doppler Effect 1. Earth itself moves, so a measurement of a Doppler shift really measures the relative motion between Earth and star 2. Doppler shift is sensitive only to the part of the velocity directed away from you or toward you the radial velocity (Vr)