Zanstra method

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/zanstra-method

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the method originator?Herman Zanstra
2. What is the year of introduction?1931
3. Why do scientists look at the gas around a star to learn about the star?Because the star's ultraviolet light ionizes the gas, and the light that the gas emits tells us how many high‑energy photons the star is sending out.
4. How do astronomers use the Zanstra method to find a star's temperature?They compare how bright certain glow lines in the nebula are with how many ionizing photons a star would produce at different temperatures.

Effective Surface Temperature: The temperature of a blackbody that would radiate the same total amount of energy per unit surface area as the star.
Lyman Continuum: The range of photon energies greater than the ionization potential of hydrogen, leading to the ejection of its electron.
Photoionization: The ionization of an atom or molecule by absorbing a photon.
Radiative Recombination: The process where an ion captures a free electron, emitting a photon.