The Sun, like other stars, may be studied through light and other forms of energy that the Sun radiates into space. In fact, light does not need air or other mediums to be diffused, as is the case with sound: this means that light can travel through an empty universe. However, we need special instruments to understand this concept because our eyes are not enough. The light from stars appears to be white, but it is, in fact, broken up into a rainbow of colors called the visible spectrum. These colors are nothing more than forms of energy made up of specific, individual waves. The difference in waves is determined by the distance between two successive crests of a given series of waves. This distance is called a wave-length. Scientists have determined that the shorter the wave-length, meaning the closer the crests of the waves, the greater the wave's energy. It has been observed that violet has the shortest wave-length of all the colors in the visible spectrum, therefore, it has the maximum amount of energy. After violet, the wave-lengths of the visible spectrum increase beginning with blue, followed by green, yellow, orange and red. This phenomenon was discovered by the great English physicist Sir Isaac Newton in the Seventeenth Century. However, it wasn't until the end of the last century, that we realized a solid, a liquid or a gas, when subjected to high pressure, heats until it becomes incandescent and emits radiation characterized by one definite wave-length. If we could look at the Sun excluding all other wave-lengths, we would have an idea of the distribution of a certain element on the surface of the Sun.
The Sun, like other stars, may be studied through light and other forms of energy that the Sun radiates into space. In fact, light does not need air or other mediums to be diffused, as is the case with sound: this means that light can travel through an empty universe. However, we need special instruments to understand this concept because our eyes are not enough. The light from stars appears to be white, but it is, in fact, broken up into a rainbow of colors called the visible spectrum. These colors are nothing more than forms of energy made up of specific, individual waves. The difference in waves is determined by the distance between two successive crests of a given series of waves. This distance is called a wave-length. Scientists have determined that the shorter the wave-length, meaning the closer the crests of the waves, the greater the wave's energy. It has been observed that violet has the shortest wave-length of all the colors in the visible spectrum, therefore, it has the maximum amount of energy. After violet, the wave-lengths of the visible spectrum increase beginning with blue, followed by green, yellow, orange and red. This phenomenon was discovered by the great English physicist Sir Isaac Newton in the Seventeenth Century. However, it wasn't until the end of the last century, that we realized a solid, a liquid or a gas, when subjected to high pressure, heats until it becomes incandescent and emits radiation characterized by one definite wave-length. If we could look at the Sun excluding all other wave-lengths, we would have an idea of the distribution of a certain element on the surface of the Sun.
