NSSSC Resources
Diffraction Grating Handbook
Thank you to Chris Palmer at Richardson Gratings/Newport for supplying each student with a handbook during the 2010-'11 Pilot Run. These handbooks are no longer in print but a digital copy can be found below.
Also see the Technical Notes at the Richardson Gratings website for more valuable information.
IMPORTANT: The diffraction grating will likely be the most sensitive and fragile component in your design, and it is a critical one. Every team member should carefully review the grating handling instructions found in Chapter 15 of the Newport handbook before your grating arrives.
Complimentary Contest Diffraction Gratings
![contest grating](/images/Richardson%20Gratings.jpg)
Thank you to Chris Palmer at Richardson Gratings for supplying each team with a complementary contest diffraction grating. Teams may select one of three different diffraction gratings to support their science goal.
Solar Info
Competition Heliostat/ Spectrograph Interface
Google Sketchup is required to view the above documents.
To get an idea of how the heliostat operates, please see the time-lapse video provided below. The video was taken over approximately five hours. Notice the shadows moving in the background while the bright spot on the ground remains fixed.