Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21724805s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #248.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Peering at the night sky, and more specifically, at all the stars overhead, one begins to wonder: How do astronomers determine the composition of stars if they cannot travel to them and return samples to Earth for use in a laboratory? One way in which astronomers can make these determinations is by using the "starlight” itself. Spectroscopy is a powerful tool in astronomy. The analysis of stellar spectra can reveal the composition, temperature, and velocity of an object as well as several other pieces of information. In an effort to increase student understanding of how spectroscopy works, an analogy to barcodes has been employed with 9th grade students. Young students are very familiar with the scanning technology currently utilized at most stores. While not a one to one analogy of the process, students can begin to understand that the series of black and white lines, the width of the lines, and the spacing between assists the computer in identifying the item for purchase. By a similar token, an astronomer looks at the spectral lines of a star and based upon the thickness, separation, and location of the lines can begin to determine some of the properties of the celestial object.
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