Background

David F. Gray

doi:10.1017/CBO9781316036570.004

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1 - Background

David F. Gray

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David F. Gray: Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario

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Summary

We study stellar spectra, including both lines and continua, because we are interested in the nature of the star's atmosphere. The behavior of the atmosphere is controlled by the density of the gases in it and the energy escaping through it. These in turn depend on the mass and age of the star and to a lesser extent on chemical composition and angular momentum. Stellar atmospheres are the connecting links between the observations and the rest of stellar astrophysics. In this way two philosophies arise. One is the study of the atmosphere for its own sake and the other is the use of the atmosphere as a tool to connect our observations to other parameters of interest. This book should be useful for students of both philosophies.

The topics brought together to form this chapter are background material which the reader will need. The more advanced reader can profitably skim through to Chapter 2.

What is a stellar atmosphere?

A stellar atmosphere is a transition region from the stellar interior to the interstellar medium. One way to quantify this description is to look at the change in average kinetic temperature with height as observed in the Sun. Figure 1.1 shows the solar temperature profile with the four basic sections labeled, sub-photosphere, photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. For an observer of stellar atmospheres, one concept is very important: the major portion of the visible stellar spectrum originates in the region marked “photosphere.” A study of the visible-light spectrum is essentially a study of the photosphere.

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Observation and Analysis of Stellar Photospheres , pp. 1 - 25

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316036570.004 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2005

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