Free to the public and all are welcome to attend.

Speaker: Tom Fields, RSpec

Title: Spectroscopy for Amateur Astronomers - Easy Science with a Star’s Spectrum

Last month we heard Dava Sobel speak about the Women at the Harvard Observatory and “The Glass Universe” they collected using the emerging technique in the early 20th century we call Spectroscopy. So how can amateur astronomers use this strategy to expand upon the universe in 2025 with your own telescope?

Haven’t you always wanted to “do some science” with your telescope or standalone DSLR?

The science is easy and exciting. With just a small telescope you can easily:

• determine any star’s OBAFGKM star-type and temperature from its spectra curve.
• identify the composition of a star or nebula from its emission and absorption lines.
• detect the cosmological red-shift of a distant quasar!
• measure the blue-shift of a supernova’s expanding shell as it races towards us at millions of miles/hour.