Reading the Rainbow: Temperature - Spectroscopy

How do astronomers learn about something in space that is very far away? In addition to images, they study the light from cosmic objects like planets, stars, and galaxies. Astronomers spread light out to look at the detailed rainbow spectrum (plural: spectra). Light carries a lot of information, if you learn to “read” its rainbow!

In this video, discover how astronomers read spectra to determine the temperature of distant stars.

Music: “Ambynt,” by Steve Combs, CC BY 4.0 license.

Credit: NASA, ESA, Dani Player (STScI).

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