Fingerprinting Stars

[USAF_slip]

I have (or will have in 1 day!) a Nexstar 8SE. My goal other than viewing the cosmic light show is to be able to understand the science behind the stars by getting to know their compositions using spectrophotometry. I will be attending GWU heading towards a degree in Astrophysics so this is something I really, really hope is possible! My two questions are where would I find a Prismatic EP or like device to view the spectra of the stars and is the Nexstar 8SE even suited for performing an observation such as this? It may end up being a tall order either b/c scope is the best or the EP/Prism is jaw-drop expensive however its worth a shot to satisfy my hinger for knowledge, lol! Thanks in advance for the help and have a great week!

[jsandse]

Hi USAF, yes your telescope is more than capable of doing amateur spectroscopy.

Cheapest way into it is using the star analyser:

The Paton Hawksley website is here:

Paton Hawksley Education ltd. - Star Analyser 100

An excellent page on what can be achieved by users is here:

The Star Analyser : RSpec / Real-time Spectroscopy

If you want to get more serious then there are spectroscopes out there you can by from shelyak, baader dados, ken harrison etc

But what you do depends on how serious you are about the hobby and how much you want to spend on the spectroscope and other equipment eg cameras......

Glad to see you are interested in Astrophysics too - its a fascinating subject with lots to learn and discover.

cheers

John

[USAF_slip]

Thanks jsandse! So far as it stands now it more for recreational knowledge however having that base for my future journey through academia will be a nice additional benefit. Once I leap back into school it may actually turn out something to get serious about...I guess I will just have to wait and see. Thanks again and enjoy the rest of the week!

[Merlin66]

The Rainbow Optics is another option in the US.

The low resolution spectra which can be obtained with an 8" scope will certainly show you enough detail for stellar classification.

Richard Walker's Spectral Atlas is also strongly recommended.

(bottom of the page, right hand side for the latest English version)

Richard Walkers Page

[USAF_slip]

Awesome...thank you very much Merlin66!

[K Nixon]

I understand the use of a diffraction grating to produce orders and see the spectral lines given off by a star. looks like much fun.

However, is there any amateur equipment that can be used to produce the spectral graphs (the wavelength - intensity ones)? or is this only high end lab equipment?

cheers

K

[Merlin66]

K,

There are many processing programs available to convert the spectrum image into intensity profiles.

RSpec (commercial package) is one of the easiest to use, then there's VSpec (freeware) which does a similar job.

[K Nixon]

Cheers Merlin66,

do these run off normal photograph images taken with a grating or do you need one of the Shelyak devices?

[Merlin66]

These can process any spectral images. You can use any spectroscope/ grating and any camera ie DSLR/ webcam/ CCD.

[nytecam]

Most Starlight Xpress camera software incorporates a simple one click 'line profile' on any pixel 'row' on an image that I specifically requested. Below [from the past] are sample 2D captured spectra [exposures 1s - 60s] with annotated profiles via Rainbow Optics grating so there's lots of options

[K Nixon]

I stand amazed. very clever indeed.

Thank you very much!

K