The Colors of Light Not your ordinary Rainbow Did you know, there are parts of the rainbow you cant see!! There are colors that Insects can see that you cant!

The Colors of Light These colors are presented from: Lowest Frequency to Highest Frequency Lowest Energy to Highest Energy Longest Wavelength to Shortest Wavelength

Frequency and Wavelength Wavelength Distance between peaks or troughs Frequency Number of waves per second – in Hz (kHz, MHz, GHz) Troughs Peaks

Frequency and Wavelength The Longer the wavelength – the Lower the frequency AM radio – 650 kHz = 300 meters The Shorter the wavelength – the Higher the frequency FM radio – 89.7 MHz = 3 meters

R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma RADIO –ELF – VLF – LF – HF – VHF – UHF – SHF - EHF –Km 100M 10M 1M 10cm 1cm ^ AM broadcast ^ FM Broadcast ^ Cell Phones ^ Microwave ovens ^ Messages to submarines underwater Amateur Radio This part of radio overlaps into the microwave region M82 – Merlin&VLA 5GHz – Jodrell Bank

R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma Microwave –20 cm to 1 cm to 1 mm Microwave ovens use just one of the frequencies of microwave radiation. The one that causes water molecules to spin. As they spin, they bump into other molecules – and warm them up! Microwaves are used in radio transmissions, and radio astronomy.

(Source: Jensen, 2000) Far Infrared Thermal Infrared FIR R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma

MilkyWay in FIR

Near Infrared – NIR William Herschel discovered Plants reflect nearly all NIR – so they look White (in imagery) R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma

Center of the Milky Way Visible Near Infrared

NIRVisible

Hey Mr B, get out the NIR camera – make them look spooky! Veins – See Through Sun Glasses – Weird Eyes - In the dark

Visible NIR FIR Horsehead Nebula in Orion

Visible Light - VIS From low frequency to high frequency Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet The colors of the rainbow R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma

UltraViolet – UV –SunBurn! –Blacklights The sun in UV The Earth in UV R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma

X-Rays –Can go through soft things – stopped by metals and bones –Can cause cancer or other damage if too many x-rays are received –Dont make it through the atmosphere R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma

Gamma Rays –Very high energy –Dont make it through the atmosphere Gamma Rays come from the nucleus of atoms as they rearrange themselves. NOTE – Electromagnetic Radiation and Radioactivity Radiation are two separate things! – only in Gamma rays do they come together. R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma The Moon Gamma Ray Burst

Other Radiation – –Cosmic rays –Radioactivity Alpha rays / Alpha particles = He nucleus +2 Beta rays / Beta particles = high speed electrons e - Gamma rays – given off by nuclear reactions R-M-FIR-NIR-ROYGBIV-UV-X-Gamma

The Milky Way in Different Colors of Light The following image shows our view of the Milky Way Galaxy from Radio waves to Gamma Rays. It looks a little different in each color because each is seeing different processes.

Questions??

Disclaimer Aloha I put together these power points for use in my science classes. You may use them in your classes. Some images are public domain, some are used under the fair-use provisions of the copyright law, some are mine. Copyright is retained by the owners! Ted Brattstrom