A Trip Through the Light Fantastic Dr. Frank Summers Space Telescope Science Institute September 1, 2015

Contact, Warner Bros 1997

Visible Light

InfraredVisible Hotter Star Cooler Star Sun-like Stars Ultraviolet

Red OrangeYellowGreenBlueViolet ROYGBVROYGBV

Red OrangeYellowGreenBlueViolet ROYGBVROYGBV Increasing Frequency Increasing Energy Increasing Wavelength

Energy is proportional to Frequency E = h * ν Energy: Joules, E Planck’s constant: * Joule-sec Frequency: oscillations per second (Hz), ν [nu]

Frequency * Wavelength = Speed of Light ν * λ = c Frequency: oscillations per second (Hz), ν [nu] Wavelength: distance between crests (m), λ [lambda] Speed of Light: 300,000 km/s = 186,000 mi/s, c

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Shorter wavelength Higher frequency Larger energy Longer wavelength Lower frequency Smaller energy

Radio Waves wavelength > 1 meter frequency < 300 MHz

Radio Bands AM radio –Amplitude modulation –540 to 1600 kHz –WABC-AM 770 = 770 kHz = 770,000 Hz FM radio –Frequency modulation –88 to 108 MHz –WPLJ 95.5 = 95.5 MHz = 95,500,000 Hz

Microwaves 1 millimeter < wavelength < 1 meter 300 Ghz > frequency > 300 MHz

Microwave Oven Dielectric heating –2.45 GHz (12.2 cm) –915 MHz (32.8 cm)

Planck

Infrared Light 700 nanometers < wavelength < 1 millimeter

Night Vision is not Infrared Enhanced low light vision

SOFIA – Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy

Visible Light 400 nanometers < wavelength < 700 nanometers

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Ultraviolet Light 10 nanometers < wavelength < 400 nanometers

X-rays 0.01 nanometers < wavelength < 10 nanometers

Action Comics #20 by Joe Schuster and Paul Cassidy

Gamma Rays wavelength < 0.01 nanometers

Multi-wavelength Montages

Hubble Space Telescope Spitzer Space Telescope Chandra X-ray Observatory

Hubble visible Spitzer infrared Chandra x-ray Supernova Kepler