I got my stellar spectroscopy equipment setup tonight and took it for a spin. To start I shot Vega (Alpha Lyrae), which is a spectral A0V star that is great to use for calibration, and 5th brightest star in the sky (in my particular sky it was the 2nd brightest). Vega is a relatively close star being only 25 light years away.

In the graph you can clearly see the hydrogen balmer absorption lines (marked with the blue vertical lines), as well as the wavelength of the lines.

I’m looking forward to doing some spectral analysis of other deep sky objects.

As an aside, I’m going to use the same stuff to do some spectral studies of the different LED light bulbs for the new house. More on that coming soon.