9 replies to this topic

[Hiernst]

Hello everyone,

 

I just joined this group to specifically ask a question about spectra.

 

I am not an amateur astronomer, but an artist who is incredibly fascinated by stellar spectroscopy - particularly its history and use in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I'm working on a project where I need to visualize and reference the absorption or emission spectra of all the elements.  I have found a few different sources online for this, but some are incomplete and more maddeningly there are some variations between the sources.  In not having an astronomy or chemistry background, I wanted to reach out to people more knowledgeable than I and see if there is a good complete, trusted, and standard reference for the spectra of elements.  A book? A site? Anything?   

I assume minor variations between the sources to be possibly based on sensitivity (number of visible lines), but I certainly want to make certain that the basic elemental "signature" is correct and I'm not foolishly using spectra that are wildly inaccurate.  I've found image files on this website http://www.alexpetty...table-of-light/ and other image files in Wikimedia Commons and would be thrilled if people have other sources, references, or opinions on these sources that they could give me.

 

Many thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

-Victoria

 

 

[Tangerman]

In not having an astronomy or chemistry background, I wanted to reach out to people more knowledgeable than I and see if there is a good complete, trusted, and standard reference for the spectra of elements.  A book? A site? Anything?   

I tend to use NIST when looking up basic spectroscopic data, which lists wavelengths (so no images). Here's a link https://physics.nist...riodictable.htm

Click on an element, then click persistent lines for the more major ones. A warning: there are many major lines for each element. You can also click on main page and look through the handbook for these data, which states there are about 12000 lines listed.

[bob71741]

RSPEC, a popular spectrocopy program, offers a poster that they generated for some $$

 

see poster sample here: https://www.rspec-astro.com/poster/

[dswtan]

This site may have some resources useful to you. Check out the poster they are holding on the home page!

 

https://www.rspec-astro.com/

 

https://www.rspec-astro.com/poster/

[Hiernst]

Thanks, Tangerman!

 

I'm definitely looking for visual references, but perhaps this source and the info about the persistent lines can help me cross-reference and double check things. 

Very much appreciated!
 

[icee_stars]

Check out solarchatforum.com, there is a section devoted to "Solar Radio, Magnetometry and Spectroscopy".
Also a reference book section but most importantly, it's a great group of solar enthusiasts.

Also, link to Christian Buil's "Atlas of Emission Lines"
  (replace DOT instances below with a period when entering address in browser)
wwwDOTastrosurfDOTcom/buil/specinti/Atlas_Spectral_Lamps.pdf

 

Edited by icee_stars, 27 June 2022 - 12:48 PM.

[Hiernst]

Thanks bob71741, Thanks dswtan,

 

I saw that poster, but I wasn't entirely certain if the small scale of each element/image would be entirely helpful for me, but perhaps I can contact the creators directly and see what they say about visual legibility and/or what their image sources are.

 

Thank you!

[Hiernst]

Thanks icee stars, I will check out the site!

[BFaucett]

Check out solarchatforum.com, there is a section devoted to "Solar Radio, Magnetometry and Spectroscopy".
Also a reference book section but most importantly, it's a great group of solar enthusiasts.

Also, link to Christian Buil's "Atlas of Emission Lines"
  (replace DOT instances below with a period when entering address in browser)
wwwDOTastrosurfDOTcom/buil/specinti/Atlas_Spectral_Lamps.pdf

 

Clickable links:

 

https://solarchatforum.com/

 

http://www.astrosurf...ctral_Lamps.pdf

 

Cheers! Bob F.

[Hiernst]

Thanks BFaucett!

 

And thanks again icee stars, I just checked out the PDF and I will also use that as a reference.