17.4 Using spectra to measure stellar radius, composition, and

Learning objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Understand how astronomers can learn about a star’s radius and composition by studying its spectrum
• Explain how astronomers can measure the motion and rotation of a star using the Doppler effect
• Describe the proper motion of a star and how it relates to a star’s space velocity

Analyzing the spectrum of a star can teach us all kinds of things in addition to its temperature. We can measure its detailed chemical composition as well as the pressure in its atmosphere. From the pressure, we get clues about its size. We can also measure its motion toward or away from us and estimate its rotation.

Clues to the size of a star

As we shall see in The Stars: A Celestial Census , stars come in a wide variety of sizes. At some periods in their lives, stars can expand to enormous dimensions. Stars of such exaggerated size are called giants . Luckily for the astronomer, stellar spectra can be used to distinguish giants from run-of-the-mill stars (such as our Sun).

Suppose you want to determine whether a star is a giant. A giant star has a large, extended photosphere. Because it is so large, a giant star’s atoms are spread over a great volume, which means that the density of particles in the star’s photosphere is low. As a result, the pressure in a giant star’s photosphere is also low. This low pressure affects the spectrum in two ways. First, a star with a lower-pressure photosphere shows narrower spectral lines than a star of the same temperature with a higher-pressure photosphere ( [link] ). The difference is large enough that careful study of spectra can tell which of two stars at the same temperature has a higher pressure (and is thus more compressed) and which has a lower pressure (and thus must be extended). This effect is due to collisions between particles in the star’s photosphere—more collisions lead to broader spectral lines. Collisions will, of course, be more frequent in a higher-density environment. Think about it like traffic—collisions are much more likely during rush hour, when the density of cars is high.

Second, more atoms are ionized in a giant star than in a star like the Sun with the same temperature. The ionization of atoms in a star’s outer layers is caused mainly by photons, and the amount of energy carried by photons is determined by temperature. But how long atoms stay ionized depends in part on pressure. Compared with what happens in the Sun (with its relatively dense photosphere), ionized atoms in a giant star’s photosphere are less likely to pass close enough to electrons to interact and combine with one or more of them, thereby becoming neutral again. Ionized atoms, as we discussed earlier, have different spectra from atoms that are neutral.

Spectral lines.