Gaseous nature of nebulae (Huggins)
Naturaleza gaseosa de las nebulosas (espectro de líneas de emisión)
- Date
- 1864 · confidence high
- Place
- Tulse Hill, London, England
- Credited to
- William Huggins, Margaret Huggins
- People
- 👤 William Huggins1824–1910
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Huggins showed that the Cat's Eye Nebula emits bright lines, meaning it is luminous gas rather than a cluster of stars; he also measured the first Doppler shift of a star (Sirius, 1868).
The 'nebulium' of his lines turned out to be doubly ionised oxygen (Bowen, 1927).
What it led to
- Distinction between gaseous nebulae and galaxies
- Measurement of radial velocities
- Astrophysics as a discipline
Built on
Made possible
- Harvard spectral classification1890-1901
- Stellar spectroscope