solar_spectrum_graph_2.gif

    Caption: The solar spectrum in a log-log plot.

    Features:

    1. There is a blackbody spectrum fit (dashed red line) to the solar spectrum above the Earth's atmosphere (dark blue line) and also the relative solar spectrum at the Earth's surface in cloud-free conditions (light blue light). The wavelength range extends from far UV to far IR.

    2. Because of the small scale, the absorption lines in the solar spectrum have been mostly smoothed out. A larger scale would show many them.

    3. Note that the solar spectrum peaks in the visible.

    4. Note also that the Earth's atmosphere is very opaque in the ultraviolet (UV) and in many broad absorption spectral bands in the infrared (IR) (due primarily to water vapor (H_20 gas) and carbon dioxide (CO_2), the two principal greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere), but the visible band (fiducial range 0.4--0.7 μm)) is pretty transparent. The transparent bands are called atmospheric windows in astro jargon.

    Credit/Permission: Photo/Image provided courtesy of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), (and courtesy of Judith Lean, NRL, to NASA Science News) / Public domain since prepared by a US government employee (see Copyright and Other Rights Pertaining to U.S. Government Works).
    Download site: NASA Science.
    Image link: Itself.
    Local file: local link: solar_spectrum_graph_2.html.
    File: Sun file: solar_spectrum_graph_2.html.