identify instruments and procedures used by the astronomers to gather information about the stars?

Question

if you can't type in a long enough answer that makes some sense, then just give me some links where i can find the answers

it's for research for a term paper that i have to maker, no copying, because each of us chose different objectives and if you can't type a long and definitive answer, just give me a couple of links so i can get that answer from there.

Answer 1

(I like Injanier's poke at humor with his online name LOL.)

He gave you a lot of great sites, and I don't want to duplicate any instruments he's already suggested (like the spectrometer), but he did neglect one website that offers a wealth of information: Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. You can keep track of current and future missions from their site. This page offers some links to their star and galaxy research in particular:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/stars_galaxies/
Their homepage:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov


Now before I delve into my rantings and ravings, I want to give you a basic primer on the spectrum and why the spectrometer/ spectrograph that "Injanier" mentioned is so important. At the very low end of the frequency range is the audible noise (what we hear) and then radio frequencies and microwaves, then the colors of our "visible" light, followed by Ultraviolet light, and then X-Rays, followed by Gamma Rays.This chart from Wikipedia actually shows you the ranges of all the known frequencies. (Note how small our "visible" part of the spectrum actually is!) The chart is on the right side of the page, and the legend is directly underneath it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum

Now, I will tell you what we are doing to collect information in each of these ranges of the spectrum, starting with the very top end.


When a massive star finally collapses and then explodes, a "Supernova" is formed, and intense volumes of Gamma Ray particles get blasted in all directions. Sometimes a Supernova will spin incredibly fast and pulsate with multiple gamma Ray blasts. We call this type of pulsating Supernova a "Pulsar". On Earth, we are detecting several of these huge Gamma Ray blasts EVERY SINGLE DAY from every direction in the Universe! Unfortunately, we can't "see" these particles with our eyes because they are out of our "visible" range of the spectrum. They fall into the High-Energy range which includes both X-Rays and Gamma Rays.
Photos of a supernova:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova
Photo of Pulsar:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041223.html

INSTRUMENTS USED TO MEASURE GAMMA RAYS:
-> Gamma Ray Spectrometer, which seperates light signals into different frequencies (wavelengths).
EXAMPLE: The "Swift" Mission
LINKS:
Penn State's Page:
>>http://www.swift.psu.edu/
>>"Swift" Mission's NASA page:
http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/swiftsc.html
>>NASA's Gamma Ray Telescopes Page:
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/how_l2/gamma_detectors.html
>>Note:There are some great links at the very bottom of this Gamma ray page:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/objects/snrs/snrs.html


INSTRUMENTS USED FOR IMAGING:
-> Instrument: Cameras, Optical Telescopes, like the ones aboard the Hubble Space Telescope.
EXAMPLE:Taking a picture of the sky or distant stars and galaxies.
>>Link to the Hubble's main site:
http://hubblesite.org/
Fantastic photo taken by Hubble:


Another world we are starting to look into is X-Ray bursts for the same reaqson: we can't actually "see" them. There was a mission launched on July 23, 1999 called CHANDRA to do just that- look at them.

INSTRUMENTS USED TO DETECT X-RAYS:
(1)Film, like you would get at the hospital
(2)Instruments in Space
>>Here's the Chandra Researcher's link:
http://chandra.harvard.edu/
>>Here's NASA's link, too:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html

Gamma Rays and X-Rays are not the only type of waves and particles we are looking for. On the other end of the spectrum BELOW WHAT WE CAN SEE see lies Radio Waves and ultra-low frequency radio waves.


This is a list of instruments we use to measure and listen to radio and microwaves:
(1)Radiotelescopes
(2)Very Large Arrays (VLA's).
>>Here's a link to a radiotelescope, which also shows a photo of a VLA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_telescope


Another thing of interest in space is magnetism and there was a mission called "Ulysses" that was launched in 1990 that was sent to study the Sun's Awesome Polar magnetic fields. It had to take a long trip to Jupiter to get an assist to hurl it into the Polar orbit around the sun.
>>Here's their website:
http://ulysses.jpl.nasa.gov/

They even measure Solar Wind, but that's just a "local" type of measurement (in space terms). I hope I gave you enough to get started. There's tons of stuff to look through on the web. I hope the links and information that "Injanier" (that name still cracks me up...) and I have given to you will narrow it down.

Happy Hunting!
Let us know how it turns out...

Mack

Answer 2

Astronomers use telescopes at wavelengths ranging from radio waves to gamma rays, cameras, spectrographs, and computers. One major astronomical research program is the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which is mapping large portions of the sky with photographs and spectrographs. Its photographs are taken at five different wavelengths, so that information such as the spectral type of stars or the red shift of galaxies can be estimated from the photographic data. The spectrograph is used on selected objects to get more detailed information about the light spectrum of the object.

An important part of the SDSS program is a computer system to automatically process and store the photographs and other information, and make it all available via internet. You can get a good overview of the program by following the links on this page:
http://cas.sdss.org/dr5/en/sdss/

For information on individual stars, the basic tool is the spectrograph. Some information on SDSS spectography here: http://cas.sdss.org/dr5/en/proj/advanced/spectraltypes/ .

Information on how spectra are used to classify stars: http://casswww.ucsd.edu/public/tutorial/Stars.html
Spectral data will also show how fast the star is moving, and slight periodic variations can show the presence of planets. Some general information on planet detection here: http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/science/finding_planets.cfm

More detailed discussion of spectral analysis: http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/education/senior/astrophysics/spectra_info.html

Hope you find something useful here.

Answer 3

Well the reasoning behind this forum is for answers.....
Eyes, ears brain, pencil, paper, flashlight with red lens, star-map,
telescope , binoculars, computers, televisions, sun dials, quadrants, cameras, spectrometers, oscilloscopes, compases (both magnetic and drawing, text books, other peoples opinions ....I think I got all the instruments, other stars, geometry, physics,

Now if you write a list of each of these down, then off to the side in your words, write HOW the above "might be used" you may just have it. Let me know if any of them stump you !


Keep looking up

Answer 4

Try doing a google search for astronomy, stars, cosmology, light, sun, etc. - You should get a pretty good idea of all the different methods used and how they work.

Wikipedia is usually pretty good for explaining complex ideas quite simply.

Answer 5

Why not just wait till you get to school and copy it from a classmates homework?

Answer 6

telescope, spectrograph