Introduction

Spectroscopy is the study of the way that the brightness

of an object varies with wavelength. UBV photometry
gives some information of this type (Chapter 11) but,
by common consent, spectroscopy normally has a spec-
tral resolution (see below) of 1% or better, photometry
a spectral resolution of 1% or worse. Although it is the
most fruitful technique available to astronomers, capa-
ble of yielding information on temperatures, composi-
tions, luminosities, pressures, magnetic fields, levels of
excitation and ionisation, surface structure, line of
sight velocities, turbulent velocities, rotational veloci-
ties, expansion/contraction, binarity, and, less directly,
distances, masses and ages, spectroscopy has generally
found little favour among users of smaller telescopes.
This is almost certainly because of the long exposures
normally required, even on large telescopes, in order to
obtain a spectrum. With a CCD detector, however,
spectroscopy becomes eminently possible for tele-
scopes of 0.2 or 0.3 m aperture and above. This chapter
is therefore written more in hope than of encouraging
wider interest in the topic among observers with such
instruments than as a guide to current practice.

Spectroscopes
Spectral resolution and dispersion are the two primary
criteria governing the performance of spectroscopes.
They are defined by

C. R. Kitchin, Telescopes and Techniques

© Springer-Verlag London Limited 1995
17 Observing

Spectral resolution = R = ~ (12.1)

~).

. . OA
DispersIOn = - (12.2)
Ox
where Ais the operating wavelength,
~). is the smallest wavelength interval that can
be distinguished,
0). is the change in wavelength over a distance Ox
along the spectrum.
Spectral resolutions used in astronomy range from
10 to 100000 (~). = 50 to 0.005 nm for visual work), and
dispersions from 200 nm mm- I to 0.01 nm mm-I. The
lower resolutions and poorer dispersions mostly arise,
however, in searches and survey work, and so mini-
mum useful values are more normally about 300 to 500
for spectral resolution and 10-20 nm mm- I for disper-
sion. Such levels of performance are achievable by quite
a simple spectroscope using a small prism or diffrac-
tion grating. Unfortunately there are few spectroscopes
available "off-the-shelf", and so the intending spectro-
scopist must usually be prepared to build his or her
own spectroscope or know someone who can build it
for them. There is room here only to outline what is
involved in designing a spectroscope, and the interest-
ed reader is referred to more specialist books
(Appendix 2) for further information.
The basic spectroscope contains six major elements
(Fig. 12.1): an entrance slit to give a pure spectrum and
to limit background noise, a widener, a collimator, a
dispersing element, a focusing element and a detector.
The final spectrum is composed of overlapping mono-
chromatic images of the entrance slit, and this is why
features in the spectrum are normally seen as lines.
The slit should thus be as narrow as possible, without
excluding too much light from the object being
observed, and its sides should be accurately parallel to
each other. If guiding is to be undertaken, then this is
usually accomplished by having the outer faces of the
slit jaws polished and then observing the overspill of
light from the object at the sides of the slit. The widener
is to broaden the spectrum at right angles to its length,
otherwise stellar spectra would be too narrow to use.
An oscillating parallel-sided block is often used (as
shown), or the observer can use the telescope drives to
trail the image up and down the slit during the
Spectroscopy

Imaging
element

Spectrum

Detector

Physical layout

Optical
paths
Imaging
Collimator element

F"lgure 12.1 Basic

spectroscope (shown
with a prism as the
dispersing element,
although this can be
replaced by a
diffradion grating).

exposure. The collimator and focusing element are

conventional optical components and can be either
lenses or mirrors. The dispersing element separates the
light into its component wavelengths. It can be either a
small prism or a diffraction grating. In the latter case it
should be blazed (its individual apertures angled to
direct the light into the desired spectral order) or it will
waste most of the light. The detector can be a photo-
graphic emulsion or a CCD, but in the former case the
observer will need to be prepared for very long expo-
sures. As a very rough guide, a widened spectrum with
a dispersion of 10 nm mm- I for a magnitude 4 star
obtained on a 0.3 m telescope would require an expo-
sure of liz to 4 hours with a photographic detector, and
about 1% to 10% of that with a CCD detector.
For visual work, a much simpler approach can be
used which will enable the main spectrum lines to be
seen, as well as the differences between spectral types
(see below) and stellar and nebular spectra. A small
di,rect vision spectroscope of the type sold to chemists
for element identification in flame spectra can be
attached to the end of a conventional eyepiece
18 Observing

II:.
Eyepiece

- - - Direct vIsion
spectroscope
» Figure 12.2 Use of
a direct vision
spectroscope for
visual spectroscopy.

(Fig. 12.2), and will enable low-dispersion spectra of

the brighter stars to be seen directly.

Spectroscopy
Reference has already been made to the wide range of
information derivable from spectra. An indication of
how that information is obtained is summarised below,
but the interested reader will need to consult more spe-
cialised books (Appendix 2) before being able to
undertake serious work in any of these areas.

Spectral Type
One of the quickest ways of extracting information is
via the spectral type of a star. This is a classification
system based upon eye estimates of the features visible
on medium-dispersion spectrograms. With experience,
an observer can find a great deal of information about
the star for a small investment of his or her time and
effort.
Early in the history of stellar spectroscopy, it was
seen that stellar spectra showed certain recurring
themes which enabled them to be grouped together.
One of these early classification systems was based
upon the relative intensities of the hydrogen lines with
respect to the other lines in the spectrum. Spectra with
the strongest hydrogen lines were group A, those with
slightly weaker lines, group B, slightly weaker still,
group C, and so on. The differences between spectra
were initially attributed to evolution, with the spectra
changing in the sense of decreasing hydrogen line
intensity and of increasing complexity, as the star
became older. The least complex spectra, types A, B,
etc., were thus thought to come from young (or early)
Spectroscopy 18

stars, while the more complex spectra came from older

(or later) Slars.
Stellar spectra do, of course, change as the star ages,
but not in any such simple-minded manner. The main
underlying reason for the differing appearances of stel-
lar spectra is variation in their surface temperatures. A
more useful stellar spectral classification would thus be
based upon a temperature sequence of the spectra, and
that is how the present system is arranged.
Unfortunately, the change from the earlier classifica-
tion method to that of the present day was accom-
plished by rearranging and adapting the older system,
not by starting afresh. The present spectral classifica-
tion system is thus now rather untidy and unnecessari-
ly difficult to use. It seems unlikely to be rationalised
however, so the student must become familiar with it as
it stands.
The modern system of classification was originally
codified in Harvard's Henry Draper star catalogue, and
so is sometimes known as the Harvard classification
system. The Harvard system was then further devel-
oped by Morgan, Keenan and Kelman at Yerkes, and is
now more commonly known as the MKK system. There
are thirteen groups of spectra, of which seven, labelled
by the letters,
OBAFGKM
form the core. The 0 type stars are the hottest normal
stars (50000 K), and the M type the coolest (3000 K ). A
useful mnemonic for the order of the classes is
Oh Be A Fine Girl/Guy Kiss Me
Each of the major classes is subdivided into ten, with
Arabic numerals denoting the subdivisions. The Sun,
for example, is of spectral class G2, while Betelgeuse is
M2 and Sirius AI. The first three groups are often
called the early type stars, while the last two are called
the late type stars. This, however, is now just a conve-
nient convention, and no longer has the evolutionary
signiHcance once attributed to it. The other six letters
RNSWPQ
are much more rarely used and denote unusual groups
of stars such as the carbon stars (R and N, sometimes
also called C-type stars), and the Wolf-Rayet stars (W)
etc.
The main features of the core spectral types are:
o Few lines present, those actually visible mostly due
to highly ionised silicon and nitrogen, etc. Hydrogen
Balmer and ionised helium lines visible.
18 Observing

B Balmer lines strengthening, neutral helium and

lower stages of ionisation of silicon and nitrogen, etc.
now producing lines. Towards the lower temperature
end of the group, the neutral helium lines disappear,
A Balmer lines peak in intensity at AO, singly ionised
calcium lines appear. Thereafter the Balmer lines
weaken and numerous lines due to singly ionised
metals start to appear.
F Lines in the spectra become more numerous, Balmer
and ionised metal lines continue to weaken, neutral
metal lines strengthen.
G Ca II Hand K lines peak in their intensities, Balmer
lines continue to weaken, neutral metal lines contin-
ue to increase in intensity.
K The Balmer lines are still just visible, many lines due
to neutral metals now present, and a few molecular
bands (TiO) appear.
M The TiO bands now dominate the spectrum.
The precise determination of the spectral class of a
star from its spectrum is via the intensity ratios of pairs
of lines that happen to be especially sensitive to tem-
perature or luminosity. The required line pairs vary
with spectral class, some only being used to distinguish
one or two sub-classes, others being of wider use. The
student is referred to specialist works on the topic
(Appendix 2) for further details of the techniques of
spectral classification. Once the spectral class of a star
is determined, then its temperature and many other
properties may be found from tables (Appendix 2).

Luminosity Class
The widths of spectral lines increase as the gas pressure
in the regions producing them increases. Now normal
star's masses vary by only about a factor of 1000, while
their diameters vary by a factor of about 10 000, and
their volumes by a factor of 10 12 • The physically largest
stars must therefore have much lower densities than
the physically smallest stars, and hence the larger stars
have the lower surface pressures. Thus the spectral
lines originating from large, and hence very luminous,
stars generally have smaller widths than those from
smaller stars. The overall effect of differing pressures
is to change the intensity ratios between some pairs of
lines in the spectra from stars that have identical
temperature-based spectral classes, but differing
Spectroscopy 18

luminosities. The luminosity class is added as a Roman

numeral after the temperature spectral class. Classes I
to IV are the giant stars (supergiants, bright giants,
giants and sub-giants respectively). The majority of
stars, including the Sun, fall into class V, and are called
main sequence or dwarf stars. Classes VI and VII are
the sub-dwarfs and white dwarfs. A more complete
classification for the earlier examples is therefore: the
Sun G2 V, Betelgeuse M2 I and Sirius Al V.

R~adial Velocity
After spectral classification, the velocity of an object
along the line of sight, usually known as its radial
velocity, is the commonest parameter to be obtained
from a spectrum. For this purpose a comparison spec-
trum is usually required. This is an emission-line spec-
trum from an artificial source. The comparison spec-
trum is placed either side of the main spectrum (Fig.
12.3). The wavelengths of the lines in the comparison
spectrum are known, and so those of lines in the main
s: _ctrum may be found by interpolation. These will
normally be different from the rest wavelengths of
those same lines because of the Doppler shift and so
the object's velocity can be found from the Doppler for-
mula:
eL'l v eL'lA
Radial velocity = v = - - = - - (12.3)
v A
where v is the velocity of the object along the line of
sight,
e is the velocity of light (Chapter 7),
L'l v and L'lA are the wavelength or frequency
shifts: L'l v = vL - YO' L'lA = Ao - ~,
subscript '0' denotes an observed value,

Wavelength
comparison
spectrum

Stellar (or
other)
"..ure 12.3 spectrum
Wavelength
comparison
spectrum.
1 Observing

subscript 'L' denotes a laboratory (unshifted)

value.

The convention is used that the radial velocity is posi-

tive when directed away from the Earth, and negative
when directed towards the Earth.

Spectrophotometry
The greatest return of information from a spectrum
comes from the detailed study of spectrum line
strengths and of their shapes (profiles) - this is known
as spectrophotometry. The process usually requires
extensive computer modelling of the region producing
the spectrum. The models are used to produce predict-
ed spectra, and these are then compared with the
observations. The model is adapted until as close a fit
as possible to the observations is obtained, and the
properties of the observed object inferred from the
best-fit model. The process can become extremely
complex, and any further discussion has to be left to
more advanced texts.

Exercise
12.1. Calculate the line-of-sight velocity with respect to
the Earth of a star when the Balmer Hex line in its
spectrum is observed to be at a wavelength of
655.2 nm.
[Balmer Hex line rest wavelength: 656.2868 nm;
speed of light in a vacuum: 2.998 x 108 m S-I].