5.2 The electromagnetic spectrum

Learning objectives

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

• Understand the bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and how they differ from one another
• Understand how each part of the spectrum interacts with Earth’s atmosphere
• Explain how and why the light emitted by an object depends on its temperature

Objects in the universe send out an enormous range of electromagnetic radiation. Scientists call this range the electromagnetic spectrum    , which they have divided into a number of categories. The spectrum is shown in [link] , with some information about the waves in each part or band.

Radiation and earth’s atmosphere.

Types of electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation with the shortest wavelengths, no longer than 0.01 nanometer, is categorized as gamma rays    (1 nanometer = 10 ^–9 meters; see Appendix D ). The name gamma comes from the third letter of the Greek alphabet: gamma rays were the third kind of radiation discovered coming from radioactive atoms when physicists first investigated their behavior. Because gamma rays carry a lot of energy, they can be dangerous for living tissues. Gamma radiation is generated deep in the interior of stars, as well as by some of the most violent phenomena in the universe, such as the deaths of stars and the merging of stellar corpses. Gamma rays coming to Earth are absorbed by our atmosphere before they reach the ground (which is a good thing for our health); thus, they can only be studied using instruments in space.

Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 0.01 nanometer and 20 nanometers is referred to as X-rays    . Being more energetic than visible light, X-rays are able to penetrate soft tissues but not bones, and so allow us to make images of the shadows of the bones inside us. While X-rays can penetrate a short length of human flesh, they are stopped by the large numbers of atoms in Earth’s atmosphere with which they interact. Thus, X-ray astronomy (like gamma-ray astronomy) could not develop until we invented ways of sending instruments above our atmosphere ( [link] ).

X-ray sky.