Light

1
Light Science(from an astronomers perspective)

• A Science club sponsored by the UNL SEPPO program
  and the LPS CLC program

2
Tentative Outline

• Week 1 Introduction to Light
• Week 2 The Different Types of Spectra
• Build a Spectrometer
• Week 3 Understanding Emission Spectra
• Week 4 Mirrors
• Use a Solar Telescope
• Week 5 Lenses
• Build a telescope
• Week 6 Understanding Vision
• Use a model of the eye
• Week 7 Motions in the Sky
• Week 8 Observing the Sky

3
This Week

• Light and Mirrors
• Solar Telescopes

4
Which of the spectra below is an absorption
spectra.
?

• A
• B
• C

5
A photon of light encounters an electron in a
hydrogen atom. What will happen? ..
?

• the electron will jump to a higher
• the electron will jump to a lower level
• the electron might jump to a higher level
• the electron might jump to a lower level

6
The number of neutrons in is
?

• 1
• 6
• 7
• 13
• billions and billions

7
How Does Light Travel?
Straight and Fast!
A Ray of Light
8
Some Useful Terms

• Parallel
• Perpendicular
• Anti-parallel

9
Plane Mirrors
10
Spherical Mirrors
11
Activity

• Set-up single laser source
• Reflect beams at different angles
• Can you make up a rule that describes in which
  direction the reflected ray will go when it
  leaves the mirror?
• Please be very careful with the equipment!

12
Reflection
13
Activity

• Lets look at some ClassAction Questions from the
  telescope module.

14
Application Corner-Cube Reflectors
15
Application Periscope
16
Activity

• Set-up the single laser source and one or more
  mirrors
• Can you simulate light traveling through the
  periscope?

17
Focal Length

• Distance from center of the mirror to the focal
  point where parallel rays come to a focus

18
Activity

• Set-up 5 Laser source and point it at a spherical
  (concave mirror)
• Can you measure the focal length of the mirror?

19
ApplicationTelescopes
20
The 10-m mirror in the first Keck Telescope
21
Tech Polishing a Keck Mirror
22
Solar Activity

• Sunspots
• Prominences
• Quiescent
• Eruptive
• Solar Flares
• CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections)

23
Sunspots
24
Occurrence of Sunspots
25
Maunder Minimum
26
Differential Rotation
27
Activity

• Lets go out and look for sunspots on the surface
  of the sun using the sunspotters special
  telescopes that safely project and image of the
  sun on paper.
• Realize that you should never look at the sun
  it is very dangerous.

28
Next Week

• Lenses and Refraction
• Solar Telescopes