FAAS Submitted Papers
We hope to incorporate a listing of papers written by FAAS observers -- information about their work, techniques, results, the agonies and the extacies. They can be submitted to jmsivo@sivo.com, where they will be reviewed and put on the FAAS website.
(Click on the blue title to access the article.)

Title / Author Summary
Amateur Astronomical
Spectroscopy: Highlights
of what is
Currently Achievable

By Dale E. Mais
The arrticle focuses on the instrument produced by Santa Barbara Instrument Group's Self-Guided Spectrometer (SGS). In the past, due to the limitations of film based detection and amateurs were limited to obtaining spectra of only the brightest stars and nebulae. The SGS allows spectra to be obtained with only modest aperture instruments of stars down to magnitudes 10-12. magnitude.
Resolution
Calculation
for a Slitless
Spectrograph

By Dr. Doug West
This article explains how to assemble a slitless spectrograph from commercially available components and then calculate the spectral resolution of the instrument.
A Comparative
Review of some
Commercial
Spectrographs

By Stephen J. Dearden
This article is intended to assist the newcomer to amateur astronomical spectroscopy who is contemplating the purchase of a ready-made commercial spectrometer or spectrograph. It provides some guidelines and advice with a critical review of some spectroscopic equipment that can be found on the commercial market and that may be adapted and modified for use as astronomical spectrographs.
Design and Use
of a Spectrograph at
a Resolution of R=3000

By Christian Buil
This is written for a specific design criteria, but it is an excellent procedure for amateurs to go through concerning the design process for any spectrograph. The following sections are included in the article: The specifications; Choosing a grating;Choosing a diffraction angle; Determination of the focal length for the collimation lens; Determination of the focal length for the camera optic; The effective spectral resolution; The spectral range; The optical transmission; The spectrograph's sensitivity; The signal expressed in electrons; The signal to noise ratio; Building and tuning the spectrograph; The performances; Extracting the spectral profile; Spectral calibration; Frequent lines in stars' and nebulae's spectra; Radiometric calibration; and Characterization of the line profile.