Periodic Table of emission spectra

I LOVE finding out about different ways to appreciate the Sun and light in general. Use this forum to post your info or questions about various outside the mainstream ways to appreciate our life giving star!
Post Reply
Hiernst
The Sun?
The Sun?
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:17 pm
Been thanked: 3 times

Periodic Table of emission spectra

Post by Hiernst »

Hello everyone,

I just joined this group to specifically ask a question about spectra.

I am not an amateur astronomer, but an artist who is incredibly fascinated by stellar spectroscopy - particularly its history and use in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I'm working on a project where I need to visualize and reference the absorption or emission spectra of all the elements. I have found a few different sources online for this, but some are incomplete and more maddeningly there are some variations between the sources. In not having an astronomy or chemistry background, I wanted to reach out to people more knowledgeable than I and see if there is a good complete, trusted, and standard reference for the spectra of elements. A book? A site? Anything?

I assume minor variations between the sources to be possibly based on sensitivity (number of visible lines), but I certainly want to make certain that the basic elemental "signature" is correct and I'm not foolishly using spectra that are wildly inaccurate. I've found image files on this website http://www.alexpetty.com/2014/09/21/the ... -of-light/ and other image files in Wikimedia Commons and would be thrilled if people have other sources, references, or opinions on these sources that they could give me.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can provide.


-Victoria


User avatar
p_zetner
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1644
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:59 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Has thanked: 166 times
Been thanked: 719 times

Re: Periodic Table of emission spectra

Post by p_zetner »

Hi.

The most exhaustive data base I know is that of the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
A good starting point for you would be the “Basic Atomic Spectroscopic Data” page at
https://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/H ... t_name.htm
Click on the element you’re interested in. You’ll be redirected to a new page for that element.
Click on the “Persistent Lines” box near the top of the page. Wavelengths and relative intensities of the strongest lines are listed.
The “Strong Lines” box gives you a more extensive listing with some weaker lines included.

An explanation of the difference between strong line and persistent line spectra is given here:
https://www.nist.gov/pml/handbook-basic ... copic-data

For access to all known lines, the starting point would be https://physics.nist.gov/cgi-bin/ASD/lines_pt.pl.
Click on an element in the periodic table and you’ll be redirected to a new page where you have to choose the ionization state.
Choose the ionization state (I is neutral, II is singly ionized…..) and you’re brought to a page where either all lines are listed or you choose a wavelength range. This is VERY complete. It’s probably better to stick to the persistent / strong lines menu (above) for your purposes.

Cheers.
Peter


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34526
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17521 times
Been thanked: 8763 times

Re: Periodic Table of emission spectra

Post by Montana »

A very warm welcome Victoria :hamster: that sounds an absolutely fascinating project. Please do come back and share some photos of your work when you have investigated the spectra.

Alexandra


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34526
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17521 times
Been thanked: 8763 times

Re: Periodic Table of emission spectra

Post by Montana »

Peter, there was a link given recently which showed a high resolution image of the Sun's spectra with all the lines labelled in great detail. I meant to save this link because it was brilliant. However, I can't find it, I think this would be useful too.

Alexandra


Hiernst
The Sun?
The Sun?
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:17 pm
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Periodic Table of emission spectra

Post by Hiernst »

Hi Peter, Hi Alexandra,

Thank you both so much for your responses.

I really appreciate the NIST link and the info on persistent lines. I wish the site had visual representations of the persistent lines for each element, but at least viewing the basic data should be helpful in trying to cross-check any image files I want to work with.

If things work out with my project ideas and I have anything even remotely interesting to share, I will definitely come back and post. :)

Many thanks again,
Victoria


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34526
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17521 times
Been thanked: 8763 times

Re: Periodic Table of emission spectra

Post by Montana »

Victoria, I know there was a superb website with all the spectral lines all labelled on the spectrum, however, I can't find it, I should have saved it :(
I thought you would be interested in the image too. Hopefully someone will remember where it was.

Alexandra


User avatar
p_zetner
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1644
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:59 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Has thanked: 166 times
Been thanked: 719 times

Re: Periodic Table of emission spectra

Post by p_zetner »

Hi Alexandra.

You might be referring to the BASS2000 website?
Here’s the link: https://bass2000.obspm.fr/solar_spect.php
The BASS2000 spectrum isn’t labelled but there is an associated downloadable pdf with all the lines identified.

There’s also the Liege solar spectrum atlas to play with:
https://fermi.jhuapl.edu/liege/s00_0000.html
This spectrum is unlabelled.

Of course, these are solar spectra and not spectra of individual elements.

Cheers.
Peter


Post Reply