# Stephan 2009: Spectroscopy applied to observations of terrestrial light sources of uncertain origin

> Karl D. Stephan, Sagar Ghimire, William A. Stapleton et al., 2009. 14 records on Mysteries Department cite it. American Journal of Physics 77(8)…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDGY0S85X/spectroscopy-applied-to-observations-of-terrestrial-light  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Marfa lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights)Stephan 2009

**0**

# Spectroscopy applied to observations of terrestrial light sources of uncertain origin

Karl D. Stephan, Sagar Ghimire, William A. Stapleton et al., 2009. _American Journal of Physics 77(8), 697–703_.

Report of a 20-night investigation of the Marfa lights with a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and a CCD-array spectrometer. Logged azimuth and altitude, video and continuous spectra were enough to identify false positives such as distant streetlamps, headlamps and fires, and the absorption of atmospheric oxygen gave the distance of continuum sources to 6% or better beyond 4 km.

**Marfa lightsSecondary source** ArticleCopy of **[Texas State video and spectra from the viewing area, 2008](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/artifacts/ART0DCNZMQBWNB9/texas-state-video-and-spectra-from-the-viewing-area-2008)** doi: **[10.1119/1.3130609](https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3130609)** Checked against the original0

## What it's used for here

American Journal of Physics 77(8), 697–703: the Texas State 20-night telescope-and-spectrometer study, which identified streetlamps, headlamps and fires and ranged continuum sources by oxygen absorption.

## Cited by on this site 14 records

[Headlights on US 67, distorted by the air](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKM724BXY0/headlights-on-us-67-distorted-by-the-air)

Answer

ANS

[Texas State video and spectra from the viewing area, 2008](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/artifacts/ART0DCNZMQBWNB9/texas-state-video-and-spectra-from-the-viewing-area-2008)

ART

[Texas State video and spectra from the viewing area, 2008: figures in the published paper](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/copies/CPY0DCNZRZ5XRK5/texas-state-video-and-spectra-from-the-viewing-area-2008)

CPY

[Texas State spectra, pointing logs and video, 20 nights in 2008](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0DCKJK1EMDHH/texas-state-spectra-pointing-logs-and-video-20-nights-in)

Dataset

DAT

[A 20-night instrumented watch in 2008 saw no light that met the criteria for a genuine Marfa light.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/evidence/EVD0DCKP82XNEK2/a-20-night-instrumented-watch-in-2008-saw-no-light-that-met)

Evidence

EVD

[Every light seen on the nights of the 2004 chase-car test and in 20 nights of spectroscopy in 2008 was identified as…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/evidence/EVD0DCKNWMQ20Y6/every-light-seen-on-the-nights-of-the-2004-chase-car-test)

Evidence

EVD

[In 20 nights of telescope, video and spectrometer watching in 2008, the candidate lights were identified as headlamps…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/evidence/EVD0DCKNSH54HZW/in-20-nights-of-telescope-video-and-spectrometer-watching-in)

Evidence

EVD

[Lights that Bunnell counted as genuine appeared on only about 0.9% of the nights his cameras monitored between…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/evidence/EVD0DCKPAXEZTMP/lights-that-bunnell-counted-as-genuine-appeared-on-only)

Evidence

EVD

[Oxygen absorption near 760 nm gives the distance of continuum light sources from the viewing area to 6% or better…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/evidence/EVD0DCKQBVVZC2D/oxygen-absorption-near-760-nm-gives-the-distance-of)

Evidence

EVD

[Texas State researchers watch for 20 nights with a telescope and a spectrometer](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/events/EVT0DCKHYNPGB9F/texas-state-researchers-watch-for-20-nights-with-a-telescope)

EVT

[Karl D. Stephan](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/people/FIG0DCKGNQJE2X1/karl-d-stephan)

FIG

[The Marfa lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights)

The mystery article

MYS

[Texas State University](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/organisations/ORG0DCKGXWSYS2P/texas-state-university)

ORG

[What are the lights seen on most nights from the viewing area east of Marfa?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/questions/QST0DCKKFJFECKD/what-are-the-lights-seen-on-most-nights-from-the-viewing)

Question

QST

## Cite it

```
Stephan, K. D., Ghimire, S., Stapleton, W. A., & Bunnell, J. (2009). Spectroscopy applied to observations of terrestrial light sources of uncertain origin. American Journal of Physics 77(8), 697–703. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3130609
```

[Find it at doi.org](https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3130609)

Key

**SRC** 0DCKDGY0S85X

Kind

Journal article

Rights

The publisher's

Checked

Against the published article

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS.

[CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDGY0S85X/spectroscopy-applied-to-observations-of-terrestrial-light/csl.json)