RESEARCH
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Determination of temperature and spectral classification of stars: an experiment in astrophysics

Ana S. Lopes
Universidade do Minho

Abstract
The main objective of our project was to determine temperature and spectral classification of stars using small aperture telescopes, CCD detectors for astronomical purposes and low cost spectroscopes (equipment from our school).
Our research work aims to concretely prove that students of Secondary Education are able to carry out experimental work in the field of stellar spectroscopy, make spectra acquisition performing the right calibration and its scientific and astrophysicist treatment. This project also intended to be an encouragement to other colleagues in secondary education to perform the same tasks, and, based on this work, be able to do their own determinations of temperature and spectral classification of stars. To reach the stars' temperature, we applied Wien's law, taking into account the wavelength at which the spectrum has a maximum flux. We could make it automatically or both manual and automatically, whether the star has its spectrum emission peak out or in of "visible" region.
This work was done together with Sofia Fernandes, Pedro Oliveira and João Paulo Vieira. In the processing, analysis and capture spectra we use the following software: TheSky6, MaximDL5, Registax6, PhotoshopCS3 and Vspec 4.13.

2014 February 05, 13:30

IA/U.Porto
Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (Classroom)
Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto

Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia COMPETE 2020 PORTUGAL 2020 União Europeia