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  • Current Syllabus
  • Advanced Mechanics
  • Electromagnetism
  • The Nature of Light
  • From the Universe to the Atom
  • Pre-2019 Syllabus
    • Space
    • Motors and Generators
    • From Ideas to Implementation
    • Astrophysics
  • Other Subjects
  • EasyChem – HSC Chemistry
  • EasyHSC – HSC Business Studies
  • EasyBio – HSC Biology
  • Search

Spectroscopy

Astrophysics > Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is a vital tool for astronomers and provides a wealth of information

Students learn to:

  • account for the production of emission and absorption spectra and compare these with a continuous blackbody spectrum
  • describe the technology needed to measure astronomical spectra
  • identify the general types of spectra produced by stars, emission nebulae, galaxies and quasars
  • describe the key features of stellar spectra and describe how these are used to classify stars
  • describe how spectra can provide information on surface temperature, rotational and translational velocity, density and chemical composition of stars

Students:

  • perform a first-hand investigation to examine a variety of spectra produced by discharge tubes, reflected sunlight, or incandescent filaments
  • analyse information to predict the surface temperature of a star from its intensity/wavelength graph

Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus (Amended October 2002). © 2009, Board of Studies NSW.

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