Aiming the spectroscope at a piece of sunlit paper revealed the spectral features known as Fraunhofer lines (the faint vertical dark lines in the spectrum) caused by absorbing elements in the atmosphere of the sun.
When they were discovered in 1814 by Joseph von Fraunhofer, the lines caused quite a stir because they marred the 'perfect' light of the sun. At the time, even many scientists believed in Aristotelian ideals and the light coming from the sun was supposed to be one of those ideals, but now it was covered with marks. Within the next 100 years, quantum theory, spurred by atomic spectroscopy, ravaged the clockwork universe constructed by Newton.
| Observed Fraunhofer lines:
|
| B | O2 | 687nm |
| d | Fe | 467 |
| C | H | 656 |
| e | Fe | 438 |
| a | O2 | 629 |
| f | H | 434 |
| D | Na | 589 |
| G | Fe+Ca | 431 |
| E | Fe | 527 |
| g | Ca | 423 |
| b | Mg | 517 |
| h | H | 410 |
| c | Fe | 496 |
| H | Ca | 397 |
| F | H | 486 |
| K | Ca | 393 |
Morgan (of Gnosis) asks, "Who is cooler" among megastar chick bloggers, "the Überchick or the Reverse Cowgirl"? I (heart) NYC, but you know who I pick.
