Lesson 6

AGENDA:
Physics of Light:

DECODING STARLIGHT:

• Blackbody Radiation

• The 3 Basic Types of Spectra

• Spectral Analysis

• Kirchhoff’s Laws

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 PHYSICS OF LIGHT: UNIT MAP
LIGHT

Wave Particle
(EM radiation)
Big REALM Small
(photon)

Ways of Interacting with Matter Ways of Interacting with Matter

• absorption
• emission

Applications Applications
• Blackbody Radiation
• Kirchhoff’s Laws
• Spectral Analysis
• Aurora
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 Video 6.1:

Blackbody Radiation

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 Blackbody Radiation
An ideal blackbody is an object that:
1. Absorbs all incident radiation from outside sources, reflecting none back.
2. Emits light only from internal energy sources, in a manner determined by its
temperature.

Blackbody Radiation is
the total light (energy)
emitted by a blackbody:

There are no ‘ideal’

blackbodies in nature, Blackbody Curve:
however there are a graph showing
some examples in the amount of light
natural world that emitted at each
come very close to wavelength
ideal blackbodies:
STARS! 4
 Wavelength of Peak Intensity
There is a (theoretical)
blackbody curve for an
object at any given
temperature.

There will be one specific

wavelength at which the
intensity of the emitted radiation
will be at maximum: the
wavelength of peak intensity,
or λmax.

Wavelength (nm) →

λmax=242nm
for T=12,000K λmax=483nm λmax=1000nm for 5
for T=6,000K T=3,000K
 Blackbody Curves
Properties:
• the higher the temperature
of a blackbody, the more
light is emitted at all
wavelengths
• the higher the temperature,
the more intensely the
blackbody glows toward
shorter wavelengths
• the curve itself is not
symmetric – its shape will
change depending only on
the temperature of the
blackbody
Or : Temperature (K)

Blackbody Simulator: http://astro.unl.edu/naap/blackbody/animations/blackbody.html

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Changing Temperature → Changing Colour & Intensity

The hotter the temperature of an object, the more radiation will be emitted at
shorter wavelengths.
This means that with increasing temperature, the dominant wavelength
(wavelength of peak intensity) will shift toward the shorter wavelengths,
changing the overall colour of the object. 7
Blackbody Curves: ‘Cosmic Thermometers’

Example: the Sun is a real object with an EM intensity curve closely

matching a theoretical blackbody curve of an object at T=5,800K
→ Sun’s surface temperature must be close to 5,800K! 8
 Video 6.2:

Blackbody Curves:
2 Most Important Features
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Blackbody Curves: 2 Most Important Features

Imax The two most important features of a

star’s blackbody curve are:

• wavelength of peak intensity (λmax)

→ an indication of the star’s
temperature

• height of peak intensity (Imax)

→ an indication of the star’s
energy output

λmax 10
 λmax → temperature
The wavelength of peak intensity (λmax) can give us the surface temperature of the star.
It will also tell us the overall colour of the star.

Blue stars are relatively ‘hot’, with high surface temperatures; e.g. 10,000K
Red stars are relatively ‘cold’, with low surface temperatures; e.g. 3,000K

The general trend relating colour (or wavelength) and surface temperature of stars is:

Temperature: 30,000 K 3,000 K

Colour: Blue White Yellow Red 11

 Imax → Energy Output
The height of the peak intensity (Imax) is an indication of the energy output of a
star – the higher the peak, the more energy is generated every second, by
every 1m2 patch on the surface of a star. This energy output depends not only
on the temperature of the star, but also on the size of a star!

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 View:
SUPPLEMENT: ASTRO PHOTOS

Examples of:

• star clusters showing different colours of stars

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 Video 6.3:

Spectroscopy

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 Spectroscopy: Studying EM Radiation

Spectroscopy: the systematic study of the ways in which matter emits and
absorbs radiation.

Spectral analysis: identification of chemical substances (i.e. what kind of

elements are present in an object) by their unique patterns of spectral lines.

Spectroscope: an instrument used in spectral analysis to collect and analyze

radiation.

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 Basic Spectroscope

Diagram of a simple spectroscope. A slit in the barrier at left allows a narrow

beam of light to pass. The beam continues through a prism and is split into its
component colors. A lens then focuses the light into a sharp image that is either
projected onto a screen, as shown here, or analyzed as it strikes the detector.
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 3 Basic Types of Spectra
There are three types of spectra:

• continuous
• absorption
• emission

The specific type of spectrum generated (and measured) depends on:

• the type of object

• our ‘viewing geometry’

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 Continuous Spectrum
The ideal blackbody object will emit a continuous spectrum: uninterrupted EM
radiation curve over a certain range of wavelengths.

Example: cores of stars and light bulbs

In general, spectra can be displayed in different but ‘equivalent’ ways:

Continuous spectrum Continuous spectrum

OR

‘Visually’ – i.e. this is the view you ‘Graphically’ – i.e. if you plotted the intensity
would see if you were looking at the vs. wavelength information collected by the
display screen of the spectroscope detector of the spectroscope 18
Continuous Spectrum Example

Core of
a star

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 Video 6.4:

Absorption Spectrum

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Absorption Spectrum
A blackbody object (like the core of
the Sun) will emit a continuous
spectrum, determined by its
specific temperature. However, it
usually does not reach our
detectors (spectroscopes) in its
original ‘continuous’ form.

Rather, this continuous radiation usually passes through a cooler, less dense
medium (such as gas in the atmosphere of the Sun) before reaching our
detectors.

As this radiation (energy in forms of photons) passes through the cooler gas,
the electrons in atoms of this cooler gas will absorb some of these photons’
energy, creating dark absorption lines in the original continuous.
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 Absorption Spectrum cont’d

Note that the dark lines in the ‘visual’ spectrum and ‘dips’ in the ‘graph’ spectral
curve are at the same wavelengths. Note also that the underlying continuous
spectrum shape is still present in the curve (or, most of the colours are still
visible in the graph spectrum) – but now there are dark absorption lines 22
‘superimposed’ on it as well.
 Viewing Geometry for Absorption Spectrum

absorption lines

Example 1: hot bulb’s continuous spectrum passing through a cooler gas.

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Absorption Spectrum Example

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Viewing Geometry for Absorption Spectrum
Example 2: Solar Spectrum

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Absorption Spectrum cont’d

Example 2: Solar Spectrum

Sun’s continuous spectrum
(generated by its core) after it
passes through its own cooler
atmosphere, and then also
passes through the cooler
atmosphere of Earth, where new
absorption lines are added.

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Absorption Spectrum – Stars!
All stars will produce an absorption spectrum!

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 Video 6.5:

Emission Spectrum

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 Emission Spectrum
In 1859, Bunsen and Kirchoff discovered that if heated, each chemical element
will produce its own unique pattern of bright emission lines at specific
wavelengths, against a dark background.

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 Emission Spectrum cont’d
These emission lines are caused by electrons in the atoms of the substance
jumping back down to a lower energy orbital (after they were first excited, or
boosted to a higher orbital by the applied heat). The wavelength of the emission
line corresponds exactly to the energy difference between the orbitals jumped
by the electron.

Further, similar to absorption lines, each element will create a unique pattern or
sequence of these emission lines, corresponding to the various orbital
transitions possible in that element’s atomic structure
(eg. Balmer series for hydrogen).

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 Emission Spectrum Geometry

Emission
(low density) lines:

Example:
Emission Nebula

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Emission Spectrum Example

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 Different Atom, Different Spectrum
Each atom will have its own unique spectrum, which can be used as an
identifying ‘finger print’ for that element (atom).
Helium atoms Hydrogen atoms

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Catalogue of Emission Spectra for Elements
Elemental emission patterns for some elements - can be used as a ‘catalogue’ of
spectral line patterns to identify presence of these elements in other objects.

More Examples of Emission Spectra

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 Spectra of Astronomical Objects

Video: How Do Space Telescopes Break Down Light?

Video: Spectroscopy with Hubble (Hubblecast 133)

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 Spectral Analysis Example:
Identifying Iron in the Sun

Consider the element Iron (Fe). If we obtained its emission spectrum (say in a
lab on Earth), and then compared it to the absorption spectrum from the Sun
(lining up the wavelengths exactly), we’d see that there is a series of absorption
lines identical to the series of emission lines in a separate lab spectrum of Iron.

→ this must imply the presence of Iron in the object! (Sun) 36

 Video 6.6:

Kirchhoff’s Laws

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 Kirchhoff's Laws: Summary of Spectra Types
Kirchhoff’s Laws summarize the three types of spectra we can observe:
Law 1: Continuous Spectrum

A hot, glowing solid or liquid object, or a very dense hot gas, emits light of
all wavelengths, producing a continuous spectrum.
[e.g.: core of a star, hot light bulb]

Law 2: Emission Spectrum

A hot, low-density gas produces an emission spectrum with bright spectral

lines. These bright lines are characteristic of the chemical composition of
the gas itself. [e.g.: nebula gas heated up by the neighbouring stars]

Law 3: Absorption Spectrum

A cool, low-density gas in front of a source of a continuous spectrum
produces an absorption spectrum with dark spectral. These dark lines are
characteristic of the chemical composition of the gas itself. [e.g.: solar
spectrum after it has passed through the Sun’s atmosphere]
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 Kirchhoff's Laws and Viewing Geometry

Viewing geometry:
depending on how the
spectroscope is positioned
relative to the objects (what
is in our line-of-sight?), a
different type of spectrum
will be recorded.
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 Kirchhoff's Laws and Viewing Geometry

Relative temperatures: compare the temperature of the foreground

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object relative to its background to see if it’s ‘hotter’ or ‘cooler’.