May Meeting
Friday, May 3, 2019, 7:00 pm
Backyard Spectroscopy
Conrad Cardano has been looking at the stars for 50 years. He's enjoyed it, but he always wished he could do a little bit more. Stars are much more than just a tiny, bright pinpoint of light. Just look at our Sun. It is an incredibly dynamic ball of gas, with ever changing sunspots, flares, and prominences. The Star Analyzer finally gave him the ability to see the different star types and temperature from their spectral curves.
All of this started back in 2011 when he used the Star Analyzer with just a DSLR and no motor drive. Now, he uses it with my ZWO 174mm and a 6” reflector.
The Star Analyser is designed for amateur astronomical spectroscopy. It can be mounted on your telescope just like any 1.25″ filter. It’s is easy to use, and works with most cameras. Capturing the spectrum of a star is easy!
Haven’t you always wanted to “do some science” with your telescope?
This presentation will be about:
- Stellar Spectral Classes
- What is spectroscopy?
- The electromagnetic spectrum
- Types of Spectra
- What is diffraction?
- High/Low resolution spectroscopes
- Software Used for Processing
- Results from my setup
