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Launch Pad Diary July 12
Jul. 12th, 2011 08:26 pmElectromagnetic spectrum, light, astronomical tools. How we know about the stuff in space - by looking (i.e., using light and by analyzing other radiation). Astronomy is observational and technology-driven; we usually make new discoveries through improved instruments.
Light shares wave-particle duality with electrons and has wavelength, frequency, and speed. Speed is always c (in vacuum) but wavelength and frequency (related) can vary. (Light slows down in other media: atmosphere, water, etc., which changes wavelength, maybe 30%, must be corrected.) Experiments have slowed the speed of light with things like super-cooled cesium to less than speed of sound. Different colors of visible light correspond to different wavelengths.
Red dwarf star same spectrum as filament of incandescent light bulb (temperature about 3000 K) Landscape looks normal, not red. Don't see colors at light intensities either very high or very low. ( Read More )
Light shares wave-particle duality with electrons and has wavelength, frequency, and speed. Speed is always c (in vacuum) but wavelength and frequency (related) can vary. (Light slows down in other media: atmosphere, water, etc., which changes wavelength, maybe 30%, must be corrected.) Experiments have slowed the speed of light with things like super-cooled cesium to less than speed of sound. Different colors of visible light correspond to different wavelengths.
Red dwarf star same spectrum as filament of incandescent light bulb (temperature about 3000 K) Landscape looks normal, not red. Don't see colors at light intensities either very high or very low. ( Read More )
