What's in a Star? 

     Module written by Melissa Kido, Susan E. Kegley, 
     Greg Bothun, and Geoffrey W. Marcy.

     Applets by Marco Molinaro and Paul Tero.
     Electromagnetic Spectrum Tool by Susan E. Walden and LeighAnne McConnaughey. 
     Quicktime Movies by G. C. Lisensky and S. C. Thorp.
     


    Help with Quicktime Movies

     

    Session 1: What is starlight?
    The Nature of Light

      Exploration 1A: What are your initial ideas about stars?

        Deep Field Image
        Star Images

      Exploration 1B: What are the characteristics of starlight?

        Electromagnetic Spectrum Tool
        Comets http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/comets.html

      Exploration 1C: How does light behave as a wave?

        Single Slit Diffraction of Light

      Exploration 1D: How does light behave as a particle?

        Charge Coupled Device

    Session 2: What do star colors tell us?
    Blackbody Radiation, Color and Temperature

      Exploration 2A: Are all red objects "red hot"?

        Heated Solids Movies
        Mars Image

      Exploration 2B: Why is Mars red?

        Absoprtion and Emission Tools

      Exploration 2C: Why is a star red?

        Blackbody Radiation

          Plank Radiation Web Tool (Internet Explorer only)
          QuickTime Movies

        Blackbody and G Star Spectra

    Session 3: What do stellar spectra tell us? (part 1)
    One-electron Atoms and Ions

      Exploration 3A: How can we describe the spectrum of a star?

        Blackbody and G Star Spectra

      Exploration 3B: What properties of atoms help us learn about their structure?

        Ionization Energy Plot

      Exploration 3C: What does ionization energy tell us about the arrangement of electrons in atoms?

        Expanded Ionization Energy Plot

    Session 4: What do stellar spectra tell us? (part 2)
    Many-electron Atoms

      Exploration 4A: How are the spectra of atoms like fingerprints?

        Emission and Absorption Spectra

          Elements Web Tool (Internet Explorer only)
          QuickTime Movies

      Exploration 4B: How can we describe the wave nature of electrons?

        Electron Diffraction

      Exploration 4C: What wave model explains the electronic structure and spectra of atoms?

        Some Hydrogen Orbitals

      Exploration 4D: How can the spectra of atoms tell us what is in a star?

        Emission and Absorption Spectra

          Elements Web Tool (Internet Explorer only)
          QuickTime Movies

        Stellar Spectra for Analysis

        Stellar Spectra Equivalent Width Tool (Internet Explorer only)

      Exploration 4E: How can the wave model explain properties of atoms?

        Radial Probability Distribution Plots

    Session 5: What is in a star?
    Culminating Project

        What do we know about stars from stellar spectra?


    Copyright © 2004 by the trustees of Beloit College and the Regents of the University of California. This Module has been developed under the direction of the ChemLinks Coalition, headed by Beloit College, and the ModularChem Consortium, headed by the University of California at Berkeley. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grants No. DUE-9455918 and DUE-9455924. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, Beloit College, or the Regents of the University of California.

    Published through exclusive license with W. W. Norton.
    What's in a Star? ISBN 0-393-92435-1


    What's in a Star? | ChemConnections