Using a Fancy Spectrograph
NASA astronauts operate a telescopic optical slit-less spectrograph in an experiment during the 2004 Genesis SRC mission.Copyright National Aeronautics and Space Administration http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/s-koop.html
Students use the spectrograph from the "Building a Fancy Spectrograph" activity to gather data about different light sources. Using the data, they make comparisons between the light sources and make conjectures about the composition of these sources.
Spectrographs are used both in ground- and space-based telescopes to help astronomers figure out the materials that make up stars, planets, and planetary atmospheres. Mechanical and electrical engineers build these spectrographs to advance our knowledge of astronomy. The engineering of a spectrograph determines what kind of light it can analyze. For example, the materials involved affect what can be seen through the spectrograph and whether spectral lines can be seen or "resolved" at all.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Use a spectograph to gather data about different light sources.
- Describe that light seen through a diffraction grating shows all of the component colors of that light.
- Describe how engineers may redesign an spectrograph based on what the spectrograph is being used to examine.