spectrograph
SPEK-truh-graf
Definition
An instrument used in astronomy and physics to separate light from an object into its component colors or wavelengths to analyze its properties.
Etymology
Derived from the Latin 'spectrum' (appearance or image) and the Greek 'grapho' (to write or draw), reflecting its function of recording or mapping a light spectrum.
In the news
In the article, astronomers used the WINERED spectrograph on a large telescope to identify helium in a planet's atmosphere. This tool is critical for determining the chemical composition of light filtering through a distant planet's gas.
For years astronomers kept finding rocky planets in habitable zones and then discovering they were bare, airless cinders. LHS 1140b, announced Thursday in the journal Science, is the first one that isn't: it has an atmosphere, a surface temperature that allows
Read the full article ↗Space Daily