A Spectral Data Availibility

AI Thread Summary
Reliable sources for star spectral data include GAIA, which offers data for some stars but not all. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) provides extensive spectral data accessible through its navigator tool, allowing users to search for objects with spectra and download the data. NOIRLab's SPARCL tool enables users to find and retrieve spectra from SDSS DR16 and DESI EDR. Spectroscopy is noted to be time-consuming, which limits the availability of data for many stars. Overall, while there are valuable resources available, gaps in spectral data remain a challenge.
Joe Prendergast
Messages
20
Reaction score
4
TL;DR Summary
Looking for a reliable source of star spectral data
Does anyone know of a reliable source from which to get star spectral data (flux versus wavelength)? The best source I've found is GAIA which has spectral data for some stars but for many it does not.
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
The SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) has a huge amount of spectral data. Start with the navigator at https://skyserver.sdss.org/dr16/en/tools/chart/navi.aspx

Then you put in a location, and make sure the "Objects with spectra" is clicked so you know which objects have spectra. You can pan around, zoom out, etc. looking. When you see one you want to know more about, click on "Quick Look" and you will see the spectrum. You can download the data if you want. This link also helps you find more data about stars: https://skyserver.sdss.org/dr16/en/help/cooking/stars/starshome.aspx

Attached are some examples of the Navigator page and the Quick Look page.
Screenshot 2024-06-02 at 8.27.58 AM.png
Screenshot 2024-06-02 at 8.28.30 AM.png
 
Joe Prendergast said:
The best source I've found is GAIA which has spectral data for some stars but for many it does not.
That will be a problem no matter where you look. (But why is it a problem?) Spectroscopy is time consuming, so you normally only do it if you really need to.
 
Today at about 4:30 am I saw the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, where they were about the width of the full moon, or one half degree apart. Did anyone else see it? Edit: The moon is 2,200 miles in diameter and at a distance of 240,000 miles. Thereby it subtends an angle in radians of 2,200/240,000=.01 (approximately). With pi radians being 180 degrees, one radian is 57.3 degrees, so that .01 radians is about .50 degrees (angle subtended by the moon). (.57 to be more exact, but with...
This thread is dedicated to the beauty and awesomeness of our Universe. If you feel like it, please share video clips and photos (or nice animations) of space and objects in space in this thread. Your posts, clips and photos may by all means include scientific information; that does not make it less beautiful to me (n.b. the posts must of course comply with the PF guidelines, i.e. regarding science, only mainstream science is allowed, fringe/pseudoscience is not allowed). n.b. I start this...

Similar threads

Back
Top