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What is a MASER?

What is a MASER?. M icrowave A mplification by the S timulation E mission of R adiation . MASERs are naturally occurring stimulated microwave emission from molecular clouds. 1. MASERs and LASERs are the same, except that they involve different wavelengths of light.

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What is a MASER?

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  1. What is a MASER? Microwave Amplification by the Stimulation Emission of Radiation MASERs are naturally occurring stimulated microwave emission from molecular clouds. MASERs 1

  2. MASERs and LASERs are the same, except that they involve different wavelengths of light. The first MASER was created in a lab in 1954 while the LASER was developed in 1960. The first natural MASER was discovered in the Orion Nebula in 1965. MASERs 2

  3. Spontaneous Emission • Atoms don't stay in exited states. • They move to a lower energy, spontaneously emitting a photon. • Spontaneous because no outside influence triggers the emission. MASERs

  4. Amplified Stimulated Emission A photon with a wavelength equal to the energy of an exited atom is fired at the atom. The photon stimulates the electron to emit a photon, so two photons of the same wavelength are now emitted. MASERs 4

  5. Coherent Radiation Both of the emitted photons have the same wavelength and move in the same direction MASERs

  6. The two photons can now stimulate two more molecules to radiate, causing a chain reaction. As a result, a MASER is intense, narrowly directed, and at a single frequency. MASERs

  7. Image from Anna Bartkiewicz MASERs occur in several places: • Around young stars. • Around stars at the end of their life. • Near a black hole at an active galactic center. Stars near MASERs provide the necessary energy for MASER emission. MASERs

  8. MASERs can also be inorganic.SiO MASERS MASERs

  9. MASERs tell us about the molecular composition of nebulae. MASERs emit light at the same frequency and are high precision atomic clocks. MASERs

  10. MASERs can be detected billions of light years away. Through MASERs many different molecules necessary for life have been found. MASERs

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