Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Prototype Satellite-Tracking Telescope For Ground-Based Spectroscopy, Charles Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Spectroscopy is the practice of determining the chemical composition of a gas through analyzing the light that is filtered by the gas. Spectroscopy is commonly used by astronomers to deduce the atmospheric composition of planets. This process is done by initially measuring the spectrum of light from the star that the planet orbits, and then measuring it again once the planet is in between the observer and the star. The spectrum light that is filtered out is dependent on the chemical composition of the gas, and so this information can be used to determine the chemical composition of the atmosphere …