Blackbody Emission: Understanding Light Processes

This lecture explores how astronomers deduce information about celestial objects indirectly through studying the light they emit, focusing on the main processes that give rise to emission at radio wavelengths and the different types of spectra observed, from continuum to emission and absorption line spectra. The relationship between emission line spectra from diffuse sources and continuous spectra from dense sources is also discussed, using examples like a light bulb filament and the Sun's spectrum.