Spectroscopy for Amateur Astronomers

Marc F. M. Trypsteen is a Belgian pharmacist and astronomer, with a background in analytical chemistry and spectroscopy. He has lectured on astronomical spectroscopy at university, high schools, observatories and astronomy clubs. He is co-founder of the Astro Event Group Belgium and also of the Astropolis Space Science Center in Ostend, where, in addition to outreach activities, he is responsible for the section on spectroscopy education and research. Richard Walker spent his career in civil engineering, planning large projects such as power plants, dams and tunnels. Now retired, in the last ten years he has focused increasingly on stellar astronomy and on the indispensable key to this topic - spectroscopy. He undertook a large observing project to record and document the spectra of the most important astronomical objects, and chose to share this gathered information for the benefit of other amateurs worldwide.

• Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Physical basics of spectroscopy; 2. Electron transitions and formation of the spectra; 3. Quantum mechanical aspects of spectroscopy; 4. Types and function of dispersive elements; 5. Types and function of spectrographs; 6. Recording of the spectra; 7. Processing of recorded spectra; 8. Calibration of the spectra; 9. Analysis of the spectra; 10. Temperature and luminosity; 11. Expansion and contraction; 12. Rotation and orbital elements; 13. Gravity, abundance and magnetic fields; 14. Analysis of emission nebulae; 15. Amateurs and astronomical science.

'Attractively produced as a working pair, these books are the products of a lifetime of familiarity with observing the spectra of cosmic objects of all kinds, conditions and states. The Atlas is in effect a modern version of the 1943 MKK Atlas, at one time a centrepiece of almost all student astronomy studies and courses. … An important development on the 1943 MKK Atlas is the addition of displays as graphs as well as images, and detailed labelling of the wavelengths of critical features. … The supporting volume Spectroscopy for Amateur Astronomers, is … a collection of notes on various aspects of both practical and theoretical spectroscopy - almost a 'guide' to the cosmos - and on recording and analysing what one can observe. A substantial list of references, plus tables of star names, a magnitude scale, and similar packets of useful information for the sky-watcher, are also included.' Elizabeth Griffin, The Observatory