eli5 seeing atmospheres with spectrum

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if Frauenhofer lines are created by a star’s photosphere, how can we determine a planet’s atmosphere when the light passes through? I don’t see earth’s atmosphere on spectra of our sun, or do we just ignore that?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

We measure the light before, during, and after the planet passes in front of the star behind it. We can see how the planet impacts the light.

Our atmosphere does impact the observation of our own Sun or anything else in space. This is called _telluric contamination_. There are techniques for accounting for it.

Having telescopes in space in orbit is handy for this reason.

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