Download 18.2 NOTES How is spectroscopy used to study stars? Describe

18.2 NOTES
How is spectroscopy used to study stars?
Describe how astronomers use spectroscopy to study stars.
White light is a mixture of different colors of light. When a beam of white light
hits a prism, the prism separates or spreads out the light into its colors. This
pattern is called a spectrum.
The colors contained in the spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo,
and violet (ROYGBIV).
Astronomers use spectrographs to study light from stars. A spectrograph is a
device that contains a prism that separates light from the star into bands of
colors. The camera on the device records the spectrum on film. The study of light
coming from objects in space is called spectroscopy.
Stars give off light when their elements are heated. Each element gives off its
own spectrum of light that astronomers can study.
Stars come in
different colors
based on their
temperatures.
Blue stars are
the hottest and
red are the
coolest.