AS101 Study Guide - National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Black-Body Radiation, Emission Spectrum
Document Summary
Modern astronomers analyze light to investigator the compositions motions internal processes and evolution of celestial objects. Light is composed of a combination of electric and magnetic waves that travel through empty space: do not require a medium and this can travel through a vacuum. Electromagnetic radiation: changing electric and magnetic felids that travel through space and transfer energy fro one place to another: visible light, associative with periodically repeating disturbance (wave) that carries energy. * analogy: waves in water: disturb water; waves spread across surface, measuring the distance between peaks is the wavelength* Wave length: the distance between successive peaks or troughs of a wave represented by a lowercase greek lambda. Speed of light: 300 000 km/s the changing electric and magnetic fields of electromagnetic waves: radiation: refers to anything that spreads outward from a source. Type of electromagnetic radiation arranged in order of increasing wave length. Rainbow is a spectra of visible light.
