[Rob_K]

Originally Posted by Jon

If you think about it, amateur astronomy focuses on nebulae, planets, galaxies, comets - everything except the stars themselves. In the end, stars are just static points of light, not very interesting. The thing about spectroscopy is that it allows you to "see" the fascinating and dynamic activity within stars - the thermonuclear reactions driving them; the shells of gas they blast into space and then energise, at a measurable fraction of the speed of light; the whirling dance of a red giant orbiting a white dwarf every two hours, bleeding hydrogen onto an accretion disk. Spectroscopy is, literally, where you get to see the action.

All for a $175 star analyser. Best value for money in the whole hobby, IMHO.