Chandra and Hubble question

[katieb1982]

<p>I humbly need an answer to a very, I am sure to you, stupid question.&nbsp; I come to this site everyday for obvious reasons,&nbsp; but I know very little about space.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>On today's picture re Chandra and Hubble and the Supernova, the emissions, (hydrogen and oxygen) that were mentioned in the picture's caption, are these emissions from the stars burning out, or are they emissions from Chandra and Hubble themselves?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This middle aged woman would be very glad to know the answer, and I thank you. </p>

 

[derekmcd]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I humbly need an answer to a very, I am sure to you, stupid question.&nbsp; I come to this site everyday for obvious reasons,&nbsp; but I know very little about space.&nbsp;On today's picture re Chandra and Hubble and the Supernova, the emissions, (hydrogen and oxygen) that were mentioned in the picture's caption, are these emissions from the stars burning out, or are they emissions from Chandra and Hubble themselves?&nbsp;This middle aged woman would be very glad to know the answer, and I thank you. <br /> Posted by katieb1982</DIV></p><p>They are referring to the emission lines of the object you are looking at which is opposite of the absorption lines.</p><p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_line</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It's a conventient way to know the chemical make-up of what it is you are looking at.&nbsp; All elements have their own fingerprint, so to speak.&nbsp;</p><p>It's also a useful technique for determining the atmosphere content of extrasolar planets as the star light passes through the planet's atmosphere.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>P.S.&nbsp; Welcome to the forums and there are no stupid questions... <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div> </div><br /><div><span style="color:#0000ff" class="Apple-style-span">"If something's hard to do, then it's not worth doing." - Homer Simpson</span></div> </div>