VEGA This raw image was taken using the STAR ANALYSER with a 200mm f9 reflector and a Philips ToUcam Pro webcam. The image of the star (zero order) can be seen on the left and the colours spread out into the spectrum from violet to infra red. Some dark absorption lines can be seen.

The image of the spectrum was isolated, widened, sharpened and the contrast increased using a standard image processing software package to enhance visibility of the absorption lines in the spectrum. These lines originate from Hydrogen in the star and Oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. They can be used to calibrate the spectrograph. TO TOP OF PAGE

DELTA VIRGINIS Taken with a Toucam Pro Webcam and an 80mm aperture reflector, this magnitude +3.4 red giant shows broad absorption bands due to molecules which are able to form in the relatively cool atmosphere of this star.
	The spectrum image has been converted into a graph using freely available software. TO TOP OF PAGE

SUPERNOVA sn2004dj in NGC2403 In August 2004 a star in galaxy NGC2403 exploded as a supernova. This spectrum of the supernova was taken when the magnitude was +12, using a 200mm reflector and a video surveillance camera modified for long exposures.
The spectrum shows a clear set of Hydrogen Balmer emission lines from the glowing gas produced by the explosion. This confirms that it was a type II supernova, a massive star which exploded after it ran out of fuel and collapsed. There is also a set of absorption lines shifted to the left (blue) which comes from the cooler gas which was thrown out in our direction. The size of the blue shift tells us the speed (approximately 7500km/sec!) TO TOP OF PAGE

REDSHIFT OF QUASAR 3C273 Although they are the most luminous objects in the universe, Quasars are found at vast distances and so appear rather faint. Even at mag +13 though, QSO 3C273 is within range of the STAR ANALYSER and a 200mm aperture. This image was taken using a webcam fitted with a monochrome CCD and modified for long exposures.
	The graph of the spectrum reveals Hydrogen emission lines, but shifted approximately 16% to the red from where they would normally be expected. This is because the universe has expanded since the light left this distant object. This figure can be used to estimate the distance to the Quasar (approximately 2 thousand million light years!) TO TOP OF PAGE

A STELLAR CONTRAST
These spectra of two very different stars were taken by John Kemp using the STAR ANALYSER with a 250mm f4.3 Newtonian reflector and a Philips ToUcam Pro webcam. Alpha Lyrae (Vega) is a hot first magnitude main sequence star (spectral type A0). Note the sharp Hydrogen absorption lines bunching together towards the blue/violet end of the spectrum.	Mu Cephei (Herschel's Garnet Star) is a cool 4th magnitude Red Supergiant, (spectral type M2) and is one of the largest known stars in the Galaxy. Because of the lower temperature, this star is brightest in the Red/Infra Red region of the spectrum. Note the broad absorption bands produced by molecules which are able to form in the cool atmosphere of this star. TO TOP OF PAGE

PLANETARY NEBULAE
Here the STAR ANALYSER is used to separate out the light from different elements in the glowing halo of gas thrown out by these dying stars. Note how faint the zero order images are. This is because the Star Analyser efficiently diffracts most of the light into the first order spectrum, allowing the spectra of faint objects to be recorded.	(Imaged by Chris Baddiley using the Star Analyser with a 175mm F6 Maksutov Newtonian telescope and a Philips ToUcam Pro webcam modified for long exposures.) TO TOP OF PAGE

A METEOR SPECTRUM	This spectrum of a bright Perseid meteor streaking upwards away from Cassiopeia was captured using a monochrome long exposure modified webcam with its standard wide angle lens. The STAR ANALYSER was mounted in front of the lens. The zero order meteor trail can be seen to the left with the spectrum spread out to the right of the trail. A single green emission line can be seen initially, produced by oxygen in the upper atmosphere heated by the meteor. As the meteor flares and burns up, several emission lines become obvious. TO TOP OF PAGE
	A graph of the spectrum as the meteor burnt up reveals the wavelengths of emission lines from Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium and Silicon from the meteor. TO TOP OF PAGE
	Visual Spec software was used to produce the graph and the artificially coloured spectrogram. TO TOP OF PAGE

SOLAR ECLIPSE FLASH SPECTRUM OF THE CHROMOSPHERE
The bright emission lines in the fleeting flash spectrum of the sun’s thin outer layer, the chromosphere appear briefly for a few seconds during the 2006 solar eclipse, at the end of totality before the blindingly bright photosphere reappears.	The bright yellow line is caused by the element Helium which was discovered in the  chromosphere using spectroscopy before it was found on earth. This image was recorded using a STAR ANALYSER mounted in front of a Philips ToUcam Pro webcam fitted with a 29mm FL camera lens.
NOVA RS OPHIUCHI 2006   One star explodes inside another!
The two stars that make up the binary RS Ophiuchi are so close together that the tiny white dwarf star is actually inside the atmosphere of its much larger red giant companion. Every twenty years or so, enough material builds up on the surface of the white dwarf to produce a huge nuclear explosion.	Here the STAR ANALYSER records not only the emissions from  Hydrogen and Helium in the initial explosion but also from several elements in the atmosphere of the red giant, heated to million of degrees  as the shock wave rips through it.This spectrum was recorded using a long exposure modified webcam and 200mm aperture telescope when the star had faded to visual  magnitude 10, 70 days after the outburst.   TO TOP OF PAGE