Astrophysics (Index)About

ultraviolet

(UV, ultraviolet light)
(electromagnetic radiation, wavelength 10-400 nm)

Ultraviolet (UV) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths in the range of 10-400 nm, situated between visible light and X-ray radiation. Terms for subranges:

The Sun produces mostly visible light, but also some ultraviolet. Hotter stars produce more, the hotter, the more ultraviolet. Terms used for sunscreen/sunblock:

More than a very small amount of ultraviolet is damaging to human health. Ultraviolet from the Sun is largely blocked from Earth ground level, the short-wavelength end of the visible atmospheric window allowing a fraction of the received UVA and smaller fractions of UVB and very little UVC. At high altitudes, larger fractions are allowed through.

Ultraviolet astronomy uses ultraviolet telescopes, which are generally space-based, such as the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). Some visible-light telescopes (on the ground as well as Hubble Space Telescope) do cover the NUV range, and EUV is often observed by space X-ray telescopes.

Ultraviolet is a factor in a planet's habitability and the chances of life. Some UV is considered helpful in creating some of the molecules associated with Earth life, but too much UV breaks down vital molecules, and habitability factors include the presence of a UV-protective atmosphere on extra-solar planets as well as the number and strength of the host star's stellar flares that include UV.


(EMR,spectrum,band)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_astronomy
https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/u/ultraviolet
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/ems3.html#c3
WaveLFreqPhoton
Energy
  
10nm30PHz124eVbeginultraviolet
400nm750THz3.1eVendultraviolet
PrefixExample  
UVUV0832-01used occasionally

Referenced by pages:
2175 angstrom feature
3C 279
A-type star (A)
Aditya-L1
angstrom (Å)
AstroSat
atmospheric escape
B-type star (B)
Balmer series (H)
biofluorescence
black-body radiation
Bok globule
BUSS
C+
Cassini
COLD GASS
cosmic background radiation (CBR)
cosmic optical background (COB)
CUTE
DAVINCI
DISCOVR
electromagnetic radiation (EMR)
electromagnetic spectrum
EnVision
epoch of reionization (EOR)
Europa Clipper
European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT)
evaporating gas globule (EGG)
extragalactic background light (EBL)
extreme ultraviolet (EUV)
Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE)
Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI)
Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)
FAUST
filter
fluorescence
Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)
Galileo
GALLUMI
Glazar
High Definition Space Telescope (HDST)
High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE)
HII region (HII)
Hope Probe
Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT)
IMAGE­
intergalactic medium (IGM)
International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE)
ionized carbon fine structure line ([CII])
ionized hydrogen (HII)
ionizing radiation
ionosphere
IPHAS
JUICE
Juno
Kepler-Swift Active Galaxies and Stars Survey (KSwAGS)
Kiso Survey of Ultraviolet Excess Galaxies (KUG)
Kvant 1
Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
lunar water
Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT)
LUVOIR
Lyman break (LB)
Lyman continuum (LyC)
Lyman-alpha blob
Markarian galaxy (Mkn)
Mars Express
maser
MAVEN
microchannel array
Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX)
MUSCLES
New Horizons (NF1)
nitrogen (N)
optical interferometer
optics
Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO)
Orion space telescopes
OSO 8
Palomar-Green Survey (PG)
PanCET
panchromatic
passband
PG 1159 star
photochemistry
photodissociation
photodissociation region (PDR)
photoevaporation
photoionization
photometric system
photomultiplier tube (PMT)
photon energy
Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO)
planetary nebula (PN)
protoplanetary disk (PPD)
radio galaxy (RG)
radio source (RS)
rare designator prefixes
Rayleigh-Jeans law
reddening
reflector telescope
Rosetta
SCAP
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
slowly-pulsating B-star (SPB)
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
Solar Maximum Mission (SMM)
source
speckles
spectral energy distribution (SED)
Spektr-RG (SRG)
standard model of a flare
star formation rate (SFR)
stellar cluster (SC)
stellar flare
Strömgren photometric system
Strömgren sphere
STUDIO
SUNRISE
superconducting tunnel junction (STJ)
Swift
TD-1A
The Survey for Ionization in Neutral Gas Galaxies (SINGG)
tidal disruption event (TDE)
TIMED
TRACE
Tubingen Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrometer (TUES)
U
ugriz photometric system
ultra-fast outflow (UFO)
ULTRASAT
ultraviolet astronomy
Ultraviolet Hubble Ultra-deep Field (UVUDF)
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT)
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
UVCANDELS
UVOIR
UVSC Pathfinder
vegetation red edge (VRE)
visible light
Voyager
water (H2O)
WFC3
WINGS
Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE)
Wolf-Rayet star
X-ray
XEUV
XMM-Newton

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