Stellar Guides
Identifying Elements Found in Stars
How elements are identified in stars
Every element has an unique spectrum that can be seen when looked at through a spectroscope. The study of this is called spectroscopy. The elements unique spectrum is used to identify which elements this star contains, almost like a finger print. Neon has one of the brightest "finger prints" of all the elements.
Neon Spectrum
Neon has one of the brightest spectrums so it is used mostly in bright lights.
Elements and their Spectrums
Each element has different spectrums with different characteristics that they are defined by.
Types of Spectrums
Absorption spectrum is viewed when looking at stars.
How is this helpful?
Continued
We cannot visit far away stars, so to know what elements that they are made of we need to use a spectroscope. By using a spectroscope we can see what tags make up a certain star. When a scientist wants to know what makes up a star in a far away galaxy they can use a spectroscope to view the star's spectrums. These spectrums are unique to an element which allows us to see what elements make up a star.