Spectroscope application

Spectroscope is designed to be used to observe the following spectra:

1,Continuous spectrum of the light emits from an incandescent solid and/or liquid matter.

2,Bright line spectrum of the light emits from incandescent metallic vapour or gas under usual atmospheric pressure.

3,Absorption spectrum of white light emits from a source of high temperature when pass through incandescent vapour or gas under lower temperature.

4,Solar spectrum.

Spectroscope configuration

Spectroscope is composed of the following components:

1,A collimator with an adjustable slit, the lens of which has a focus length of 130mm.

2,A telescope contains a Huygens eyepiece with two lenses. The focus length of its objective is 130mm.

3,A scale tube – another collimator which carries a fine photographic scale at one end. The focus length of its lenses is 118mm.

4,An equilateral triangular prism made of flint-glass.

On the tripod is a prism table with a collimator fixed on it at the minimum deviation of the prism. The scale tube can be turned around a fixing screw and the telescope can be moved along the edge of the prism table. Both can be fixed with screws. The prism is mounted at the centre of the prism table by a clamp under a cover.

Spectroscopy: Astronomy’s most powerful tool

For a long time, much of the universe was a mystery because it seemed so far out of reach, but the emergence of spectroscopy in the 19th century has allowed us to study the distant skies using the only information we have: light. Amazingly, it’s shown us that everything in the known universe is made up of the same elements we find here on Earth. Basically, spectroscopy uses the light of a star, planet or galaxy to decipher its properties. The light is separated out according to wavelength much like a prism separates out colours, and a spectrum is then generated: a unique pattern of lines that can show us all of the elements present in the star, almost like a cosmic barcode. Because an atom of a certain element will both emit and absorb the same frequency of electromagnetic radiation, we can detect what elements make up a star in two different ways, depending on our vantage point. Firstly, using the emission spectrum, which is produced by elements that emit radiation of a specific wavelength when heated, and secondly using the absorption spectrum, which is produced by elements absorbing certain wavelengths of light travelling outwards through the star, then re-radiating it in another direction, giving us dark lines in our spectrum. However, if we were looking at the star from the direction of the re-radiation, we would then view the spectrum as emission and not absorption. It all depends on perspective.