The Solar Spectrum

The solar spectrum consists of a continuum with thousands of dark absorption lines superposed, called the Frauenhofer lines, and the solar spectrum is sometimes called the Frauenhofer spectrum. These lines are produced primarily in the photosphere.

A Portion of the Spectrum
The following image shows the dark absorption lines for a small part of the solar spectrum between 4300 and 4400 Å (near the Balmer H-gamma line).

(The image was constructed using data from BASS 2000 Solar Spectrum.) Here is the actual absorption spectrum for the region in the above image near the Balmer H-gamma line. The dark lines in the image above correspond to the strong dips seen in the light intensity in this spectrum. For example, note the strong dip near 4340 Å corresponding to the Balmer H-gamma line.

Customized Solar Spectra
The following link allows you to see the solar spectrum for selected regions near the Balmer transitions, or to construct your own spectrum for an arbitrary wavelength region in the range 3000 - 54,000 Å.

  • The Solar Spectrum (Custom, 3000 - 54,000 Å)

    • This link requires that you select a beginning wavelength and a wavelength interval and returns to you a spectrum in that interval.

    Spectral Classification of the Sun
    As we shall see later in Chapter 18, the spectra of stars fall into a definite set of categories that are called a spectral classification. The Sun's spectrum places it in a category that astronomers call a G2 main sequence star.