What spectrum of light does the sun emit?
Our Sun emits light at progressively shorter wavelengths, too: the ultraviolet, X-ray, and even gamma-ray parts of the spectrum. But most of the Sun’s light is in the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Why does our sun emit most of its energy in the visible part of the EM spectrum?
Radiation from the Sun Almost all of the energy available at Earth’s surface comes from the sun. The sun gets its energy from the process of nuclear fusion. This process occurs in the sun’s core or interior, where temperature and pressure are extremely high.
What causes the sun or white light to have a continuous spectrum?
Continuous Spectrum. When white light passes through a prism, it is dispersed and forms a continuous spectrum of all the colors.
What causes the light spectrum?
Emission spectroscopy. Light consists of electromagnetic radiation of different wavelengths. Therefore, when the elements or their compounds are heated either on a flame or by an electric arc they emit energy in the form of light. Analysis of this light, with the help of a spectroscope gives us a discontinuous spectrum …
How does the Sun produce light?
Fusion occurs in the sun’s innermost core, when two atoms merge, releasing energy and light in the process. Photons of light are first created in the sun’s center. Over tens of thousands of years, the photons travel a “drunken walk,” zigzagging their way from atom to atom until they reach the surface.
How does the Sun emit radiation?
Actually, the Sun does not only produce IR, visible light, and UV. Fusion in the core actually gives off high energy gamma rays. By the time they get to the surface, their frequencies are mostly only within the IR/visible light/UV spectrum. During solar flares, the Sun also emits X-rays.
Why does the Sun emit its own energy?
The sun generates energy from a process called nuclear fusion. During nuclear fusion, the high pressure and temperature in the sun’s core cause nuclei to separate from their electrons. Hydrogen nuclei fuse to form one helium atom. During the fusion process, radiant energy is released.
Why is the spectrum from our Sun a combination of spectral types?
When the light leaves the surface of the Sun, it is very nearly a continuous spectrum. However, as it passes through the Sun’s atmosphere, gasses present in that atmosphere absorb specific wavelengths of light, leaving the pattern seen in the spectrum above.
Why does our Sun have more spectral lines than some other stars?
Formation of Stellar Spectra The primary reason that stellar spectra look different is because the stars have different temperatures. Most stars have nearly the same composition as the Sun, with only a few exceptions. Hydrogen, for example, is by far the most abundant element in most stars.
How absorption spectrum is formed?
An absorption spectrum occurs when light passes through a cold, dilute gas and atoms in the gas absorb at characteristic frequencies; since the re-emitted light is unlikely to be emitted in the same direction as the absorbed photon, this gives rise to dark lines (absence of light) in the spectrum.