What do these images have in common?

Lesson 2

Radiation Journeys

The Sun emits every kind of electromagnetic radiation,

but only parts of the spectrum get through the

atmosphere.

• The electromagnetic spectrum is the whole ‘family’

of radiations, which are like light: the space

rainbow.

• They can all travel through a total vacuum at the

same incredibly high speed of 300 000 000 m/s.

• They are all given off by stars like the Sun, but

some of them are absorbed by the Earth’s

atmosphere.

The electromagnetic spectrum

Visible light gets through the atmosphere. Some UV

also reaches us.

Telescopes on Earth can

detect visible radiation

from objects in space.

Radio radiation can

penetrate our atmosphere.

To detect other kinds of

radiation, like infrared, UV

and X-rays, it’s better to

launch the telescopes into

space.

This is a visible light photograph of the Sun, taken

from the Earth’s surface.

This is a picture made with UV light by a satellite

above the atmosphere.

X-rays from the Sun. This is another satellite image.

A radio telescope on Earth produced this picture.

Pictures made with

different types of radiation

show different features of

the Sun.