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The Nature of Light

Light can be described as both a wave and a particle. It travels as photons that have specific energies determined by their wavelength or frequency. When photons are absorbed or emitted by atoms and molecules, spectra are produced with lines or bands that reveal information about the composition and physical conditions of astronomical objects. Analyzing the spectra of stars, galaxies and other celestial bodies has allowed astronomers to learn about the nature and evolution of the universe without directly visiting most of what they study.

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165 views

The Nature of Light

Light can be described as both a wave and a particle. It travels as photons that have specific energies determined by their wavelength or frequency. When photons are absorbed or emitted by atoms and molecules, spectra are produced with lines or bands that reveal information about the composition and physical conditions of astronomical objects. Analyzing the spectra of stars, galaxies and other celestial bodies has allowed astronomers to learn about the nature and evolution of the universe without directly visiting most of what they study.

Uploaded by

Prince Suman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Nature of Light

• Light is radiant energy.


• Travels very fast –
300,000 km/sec!
• Can be described either
as a wave or as a
particle traveling
through space.

• As a wave… • As a particle…
– A small disturbance in an electric field – Particles of light (photons) travel through
creates a small magnetic field, which in space.
turn creates a small electric field, and so
on… – These photons have very specific energies.
• Light propagates itself “by its bootstraps!” that is, light is quantized.
– Light waves can interfere with other light – Photons strike your eye (or other sensors)
waves, canceling or amplifying them! like a very small bullet, and are detected.
– The color of light is determined by its
wavelength.
The Effect of Distance on Light

• Light from distant objects


seems very dim
– Why? Is it because the photons
are losing energy (Tired Light)?
– No – the light is simply
spreading out as it travels from Total Light Output
its source to its destination Brightness = 2
– The farther from the source you 4!d
are, the dimmer the light seems
– We say that the object’s This is an inverse-square law –
brightness, or amount of light the brightness decreases as the
received from a source, is square of the distance (d) from
the source
decreasing
The Nature of Matter

• The atom has a nucleus at


its center containing protons
and neutrons
• Outside of the nucleus,
electrons whiz around in
clouds called orbitals
– Electrons can also be
described using wave or
particle models
– Electron orbitals are quantized
– that is, they exist only at
very particular energies • To move an electron from one orbital to the
– The lowest energy orbital is next higher one, a specific amount of energy
called the ground state, one must be added. Likewise, a specific amount
electron wave long of energy must be released for an electron to
move to a lower orbital
• These are called electronic transitions
The Chemical Elements

• The number of protons (atomic number) in a nucleus


determines what element a substance is.
• Each element has a number of electrons equal to the
number of protons
• The electron orbitals are different for each element,
and the energy differences between the orbitals are
unique as well.
• This means that if we can detect the energy emitted or
absorbed by an atom during an electronic transition,
we can tell what element the atom belongs to, even
from millions of light years away!
Absorption

• If a photon of exactly the


right energy
(corresponding to the
energy difference
between orbitals) strikes
an electron, that electron
will absorb the photon
and move into the next
higher orbital
– The atom is now in an
excited state
• If the photon is of higher
or lower energies, it will • This process is called absorption
not be absorbed – it will • If the electron gains enough energy to
pass through as if the leave the atom entirely, we say the
atom were not there.
atom is now ionized, or is an ion.
Emission

• If an atom drops
from one orbital
to the next lower
one, it must first
emit a photon
with the same
amount of energy
as the orbital
energy
difference.
• This is called
emission.
Light

• In Astronomy, it is far too difficult to visit


stars and most planets in person
• Astronomers’ primary tool in learning about
the universe is electromagnetic radiation, or
light
• The colors that the human eye can see define
the visible spectrum, but there is much more to
light than this narrow band of color!
Wavelength

• The colors we see are determined by the • Wavelengths of visible light are very
wavelength of light. small!
• Wavelength is the distance between – Red light has a wavelength of 7×10-7
successive crests (or troughs) in an meters, or 700 nanometers (nm)
electromagnetic wave. – Violet light has a wavelength of 4×
• This is very similar in concept to the 10-7 meters, or 400 nm
distance between the crests in ocean
– Colors in between red and violet
waves!
(remember ROY G BIV?) have
• We denote the wavelength of light by the intermediate wavelengths
symbol λ.
Frequency

• Frequency and wavelength are related by:

# !" = c
‘c’ is the speed of light.
c
"=
#
White Light

• Light from the Sun


arrives with all
wavelengths, and we
perceive this mixture of
colors as white
• Newton demonstrated
that white light could be
split into its component
colors with a prism, and
then recombined into
white light with a lens
The Electromagnetic Spectrum I

• There is more to light than just the


visible part of the spectrum
– Radio waves are very long
wavelength photons (not
sound!) with wavelengths
longer than a meter or so
– Microwaves (yes, the ones we
cook with) are at the upper
end of the radio part of the
spectrum
– Infrared wavelengths are just
longer in wavelength than the
visible spectrum
The Electromagnetic Spectrum II

• Above the visible…


– Ultraviolet waves are just
shorter in wavelength than
visible waves. These are
the waves that tan or burn
us!
– X-rays come mostly from
stellar sources, and can
penetrate many materials,
like skin, muscle and bone
– Gamma rays have the
shortest wavelength
Energy Carried by Photons

• A photon carries energy with it


that is related to its wavelength or
frequency

h "c
E= = h "$
#
• From this we see that long
wavelength (low frequency)
photons carry less energy than
short wavelength (high frequency)
! ones. This is why UV waves give
us a sunburn, and X-rays let us
look through skin and muscles!

h=Planck's constant = 6.626068 × 10-34 m2 kg / s


Types of Spectra
Spectra of Astronomical Objects

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