Astronomy › Section E · Radiation and spectra › Topic E.2
The electromagnetic spectrum
Visible light is only a thin slice of a much wider family of waves, from radio to gamma rays. Which part of that family an object gives off depends mostly on its temperature, and which part reaches the ground depends on Earth's atmosphere.
In this topic
- More than meets the eye
- The bands from short to long
- Discovering the invisible
- Earth's atmosphere as a filter
- Temperature and thermal radiation
- Wien's law: colour as a thermometer
- Worked example: reading temperatures
- The Stefan-Boltzmann law
- Worked example: the Sun's power
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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