Even if you wanted to touch a star, they’re all impossibly di stant. In spite of these great distances, astronomers have learned an enorm ous amount about stars. How? The most common method to study the stars is c alled spectroscopy, which is the science of analysing the colourful rainbow spectrum produced by a prism-like device.
Until recently, spectrosco py was too expensive and too complicated for all but a handful of amateurs. Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us. You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, enormous aperture … or a big budget! With your current telescope and FITS camera (or a simple w eb cam or even a DSLR without a telescope) you can now easily study the sta rs yourself. Wouldn’t you like to detect the atmosphere on Neptune or the r ed shift of a quasar right from your own backyard?!
This talk, with l ots of interesting examples, will show you what it’s all about and help you understand how spectroscopy is used in research. Even if you are an armcha ir astronomer, understanding this field will enhance your understanding of the things you read and the night sky.
We’ll do a live Q&A after Tom’s 45-minute presentation.
Tom Field was a Contributing Editor at S ky & Telescope Magazine for ten years. He is the founder of Field Teste d Systems and the author of the RSpec software (www.rspec-astro.com) which received the S&T “Hot Product” award. A pioneer in the field of amateur astronomical spectroscopy, Tom aims to demystify field and make it accessi ble to all. He promises to open the door for you to this fascinating f ield!
This will be an online presentation, but members a nd guests are invited to join us at the Green Point Observatory to view on the big screen.
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:Even if you wanted to touch a star, they’re all impossibly di stant. In spite of these great distances, astronomers have learned an enorm ous amount about stars. How? The most common method to study the stars is c alled spectroscopy, which is the science of analysing the colourful rainbow spectrum produced by a prism-like device.
Until recently, spectrosco py was too expensive and too complicated for all but a handful of amateurs. Today, though, new tools make spectroscopy accessible to almost all of us. You no longer need a PhD, dark skies, long exposures, enormous aperture … or a big budget! With your current telescope and FITS camera (or a simple w eb cam or even a DSLR without a telescope) you can now easily study the sta rs yourself. Wouldn’t you like to detect the atmosphere on Neptune or the r ed shift of a quasar right from your own backyard?!
This talk, with l ots of interesting examples, will show you what it’s all about and help you understand how spectroscopy is used in research. Even if you are an armcha ir astronomer, understanding this field will enhance your understanding of the things you read and the night sky.
We’ll do a live Q&A after Tom’s 45-minute presentation.
Tom FieldTom Field was a Cont ributing Editor at Sky & Telescope Magazine for ten years. He is the fo under of Field Tested Systems and the author of the RSpec software (www.rsp ec-astro.com) which received the S&T “Hot Product” award. A pioneer in the field of amateur astronomical spectroscopy, Tom aims to demystify field and make it accessible to all. He promises to open the door for you t o this fascinating field!
This will be an online present ation, but members and guests are invited to join us at the Green Point Obs ervatory to view on the big screen.
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