Spectroscopy
5 questions tagged Spectroscopy — spanning every one of the seven Ws.
What is redshift in astronomy?
Redshift is the stretching of light to longer wavelengths, making objects look redder than they really are. In astronomy it is a key clue that distant galaxies are moving away.
How do astronomers know what a star is made of?
They split starlight into a spectrum and study the dark and bright lines made by different elements. Each chemical leaves a unique pattern like a fingerprint.
When was the first confirmed detection of an element in a star’s atmosphere made?
In the 1860s, spectroscopy revealed the chemical composition of stars, with pioneering work by astronomers like Gustav Kirchhoff and William Huggins.
Whose work explained why sodium and potassium flames have different colors?
Bunsen and Kirchhoff’s spectroscopy did. Their work in the 1850s showed each element has a unique emission spectrum.
Whose discovery first identified thallium by its bright green spectral line?
William Crookes’s. In 1861, he discovered thallium using spectroscopy and noticed its vivid green emission line.