One of the simplest and oldest ways of observing the spectra of stars was to simply place a prism infront of the naked eye or a telescope. A more modern approach would be to use a diffraction grating instead of a prism, simplify everything by using a small camera lens instead of a telescope, and then employ a DSLR to record the whole colorful display for posterity instead of fleeting glimpses by the eye at a scope eyepiece. A standard DSLR would record all the visible wavelengths, a modded DSLR could record all wavelengths between 4000 and 9500 Angstroms.

This gallery is to share my quickie adventure into this facet (stellar spectroscopy); into seeing the unseeable. Just like long-exposure deep sky astrophotography allows us to see and appreciate images and colours that we simply cannot with the eye, with or without a telescope, spectroscopy enables us to appreciate the fundamental make-up of stars many light years away that otherwise we simply would not; another avenue for amateur observational astronomy. Come along for a quick ride, text under the pictures.

For more on this technique have a click at http://www.threehillsobservatory.co.uk/astro/spectroscopy_11.htm
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