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Spectroscopy | Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
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A great deal of knowledge comes from analyzing the light as broken down into its spectrum. The specific colors and relative amounts of each color reveal information about temperature, what atoms are present, and the speed of the astronomical object being observed, which reveals the distances to far-off galaxies. For those reasons, spectroscopy is one of the essential tools of astronomy.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div about="/research/topic/spectroscopy"> </div> <div class="copy-box standard-column six-cell-pre-at-700"> <h2>Our Work</h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--editor paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div> <div><p dir="ltr">Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists apply spectroscopy to every aspect of astronomy:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Hunting for absorption spectra in the atmospheres of exoplanets, using the next generation of telescopes. Future observatories such as the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) will be able to detect the spectrum from traces of oxygen and water, chemicals that are important for life as we know it.<br> <a href="/news/potentially-habitable-super-earth-prime-target-atmospheric-study">Potentially Habitable Super-Earth is a Prime Target for Atmospheric Study</a></p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Developing new spectrographs for the next-generation observatories, including the GMT. The GMT-Consortium Large Earth Finder (G-CLEF) is a precision spectrograph designed to measure Doppler effect red- and blueshifts for exoplanets, down to 10 centimeters per second, or less than a quarter of a mile per hour — about the rate an ant walks.<br> CfA Research: <a href="http://gclef.cfa.harvard.edu/">http://gclef.cfa.harvard.edu/</a></p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Studying the spectrum of interesting environments, including the regions around newborn star systems. Astronomers use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and other observatories to identify molecules from their spectrum. In that away, they identified an organic molecule in common between an infant star system and a comet in the Solar System.<br> <a href="/news/astronomers-discover-traces-methyl-chloride-around-infant-stars-and-nearby-comet">Astronomers Discover Traces of Methyl Chloride around Infant Stars and Nearby Comet</a></p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div> <div data-embed-button="media_entity_embed" data-entity-embed-display="view_mode:media.medium" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="c13e1736-7aa8-42f8-a1f6-5e387624d4ed" data-langcode="en" data-entity-embed-display-settings="[]" class="embedded-entity img-frame"> <div class="image-medium-wrapper"> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2019-07/Spectroscopy_2.jpg?itok=8ivGDqev" alt="computer-generated preview of the Giant Magellan Telescope"> <div class="caption"> <div class="caption-description"> <div><p>The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) will carry the G-CLEF spectrometer to study the atmospheres of exoplanets and perform other spectroscopic measurements. This computer-generated image shows the GMT at sunset, preparing for observations.</p></div> </div> <div class="caption-credit"> <div>Credit: Mason Media Inc.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <h2 dir="ltr">The Quantum Rainbow</h2> <p dir="ltr">As Isaac Newton demonstrated in 1704, white light is a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow, which can be separated using a prism or — in the case of a real rainbow — a drop of water. In the 19th century, scientists realized they could identify different types of atom by the light they emitted. A group of astronomers even discovered the element helium by looking at the spectrum from the Sun, naming it for “Helios”, the Greek sun god.</p> <p dir="ltr">Spectroscopy rapidly became a powerful tool in both chemistry and astronomy. The quantum theory of atoms provided an explanation for the unique spectrum of each element and molecule. Thanks to the particular interactions between the electrons and nuclei, each type of atom or molecule can only absorb or emit light of specific wavelengths, which are the physical property of light that gives its color. For instance, colors of neon, krypton, or sodium light bulbs are colored red, blue, and yellow because atoms of those elements emit most of their light in those wavelengths.</p> <p dir="ltr">Today, astronomers use that quantum knowledge to build spectrographs, which split light into its component colors in a more precise way than Newton’s glass prism. By seeing which colors are emitted or absorbed, and the relative amounts of each wavelength, astronomers can identify the chemical composition of a star’s <a href="/research/topic/elemental-abundances">atmosphere</a> or an interstellar <a href="/research/topic/interstellar-medium-and-molecular-clouds">nebula</a>, along with the temperature and pressure of the gas.</p> <p dir="ltr">Astronomers also use known spectra to measure the distance to galaxies. The universe is expanding, carrying galaxies along with it, so distant galaxies appear to be moving away from us. The light emitted by those galaxies is “redshifted”, meaning it’s stretched to longer wavelengths. The larger the redshift, the faster the galaxy seems to be moving, and the farther away it is. By identifying how much the spectrum of hydrogen from distant galaxies is redshifted, astronomers can measure the distance to those galaxies.</p> <p dir="ltr">On a smaller scale, astronomers use spectroscopy to measure the the motion of a star in a binary star system, from an orbiting exoplanet, due to the tug of a black hole, or any number of other possibilities. The motion of the star toward us blueshifts the light slightly, moving it to shorter wavelengths, while moving away redshifts the light. This is the Doppler effect for light, the same essential phenomena produced when an ambulance siren changes pitch as it passes.</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <h2 dir="ltr">Laboratory Spectroscopy</h2> <p dir="ltr">Researchers also do spectroscopy in the lab, studying the spectrum of different elements and molecules under a variety of conditions.</p> <p dir="ltr">For example, experiments have determined that the relative strength of two emission lines in a spectrum provides an independent test of the temperature and density of the atoms making that spectrum. That in turn is useful for astronomical observations.</p> <p dir="ltr">Astrochemists have also produced and studied complex organic molecules in the lab under simulated interstellar conditions. These molecules were later observed in space, confirming the experiments’ findings.</p> <p dir="ltr">Laboratory research in astrochemistry studies how ionization changes the spectrum of atoms and molecules. Ionization in astronomy means stripping electrons away, turning the material into a plasma. This happens in many astronomical environments, including the atmospheres of stars, interstellar space, the region between galaxies in a galaxy <a href="/research/topic/galaxy-clusters">cluster</a>, and many other places. Using laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations, researchers develop methods of studying astronomical plasmas and the processes that made them.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--4-700 bg-expand"> <div class="copy-box sidebar bg-soft-blue"> <div class="sidebar-header">Share this Page</div> <div class="share-buttons"> <div class="grid"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--3"> <div class="svg-brace"> <svg viewBox="0 0 15 32" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><title>Facebook</title> <path d="M9.89 9.6V7.04c0-1.245.837-1.536 1.423-1.536h3.605V.02L9.952 0C4.44 0 3.188 4.09 3.188 6.707V9.6H0V16h3.215v16h6.428V16h4.77l.23-2.514L15 9.6H9.89z" fill-rule="evenodd"></path> </svg> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/topic/spectroscopy"> <div class="accessible-hidden">Share on Facebook</div> </a> </div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--3"> <div class="svg-brace"> <svg viewBox="0 0 36 29" 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curated-news-section has-searchbar js-view-dom-id-3a4542cb8ea9f5d7ec1672ada2f5de63d6be96bd2f5bf52bd3f128541cfb23c3"> <div class="gutter-lock gutter-lock--center"> <div class="standard-column"> <div class="copy-box headline"> <h2>Projects</h2> </div> <div> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/astroai"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2024-01/AAI_logo_mini.jpg?itok=xZ97pss-')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>AstroAI</h3> <div class="meta"> <div>Atomic and Molecular Physics, High Energy Astrophysics, Optical and Infrared Astronomy, Radio and Geoastronomy, Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences, Theoretical Astrophysics, Harvard University Department of Astronomy, Science Education Department, Central Engineering, Director's Office, Chandra X-ray Center, Institute for Theoretical Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics, Institute for Theory and Computation</div> </div> <div class="h4">AstroAI is a institute dedicated to the development of artificial intelligence to enable next generation astrophysics at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Learn More</div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">1</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/atomdb"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2019-05/AtomDB_Hero.jpg?itok=qOHvGN3s')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>AtomDB</h3> <div class="meta"> <div>High Energy Astrophysics</div> </div> <div class="h4">In extreme environments, where pressure, temperature, and density are high, atoms change the way they emit and absorb light. Electrons are stripped from nuclei, forming a plasma, and the ions emit X-rays when struck by free electrons. To assist astronomers in identifying atoms under these harsh conditions, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian maintains the AtomDB database of X-ray spectra. This catalog provides essential information for studying conditions in many astrophysical environments, including those near black holes, stars, and neutron stars.<br /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">2</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/gmacs"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2022-03/GMACS-Image.jpg?itok=dgL3QYT-')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>GMACS</h3> <div class="meta"> <div>Optical and Infrared Astronomy, Central Engineering</div> </div> <div class="h4">GMACS - Moderate Dispersion Optical Spectrograph for the Giant Magellan Telescope is a powerful optical spectrograph that will unlock the power of the Giant Magellan Telescope for research ranging from the formation of stars and planets to cosmology.<br /> <br /> For Scientists</div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">3</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/hitran-and-hitemp-database"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2020-04/HITRAN_Sample_Atm_0.jpg?itok=1UKcJMcc')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>HITRAN and HITEMP Database</h3> <div class="meta"> <div>Atomic and Molecular Physics</div> </div> <div class="h4">With techniques developed in quantum mechanics, molecular spectra can be modeled by a set of discrete fundamental parameters. The knowledge of these reference molecular spectroscopic parameters is essential to correctly characterize constituents of their environments, model their spectra and atmospheric conditions. Physicists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian maintain the HIgh-resolution TRANsmission (HITRAN) and HIgh TEMPerature (HITEMP) databases of molecular spectral parameters, along with the HITRAN Application Programming Interface (HAPI) which also enables one to access the database archive and process the data.<br /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">4</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/sensing-dynamic-universe"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2022-06/RSPup_HubbleBond_960_Hero.jpg?itok=_pqvYb8S')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>Sensing the Dynamic Universe</h3> <div class="meta"> <div>High Energy Astrophysics, Optical and Infrared Astronomy, Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences, Science Education Department</div> </div> <div class="h4">The Sensing the Dynamic Universe (SDU) project creates sonified videos exploring the multitude of celestial variables such as stars, supernovae, quasars, gamma ray bursts and more. We sonify lightcurves and spectra, making the astrophysics of variables and transients accessible to the general public, with particular attention to accessibility for those with visual and/or neurological differences.<br /> <br /> SDU Website</div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">5</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/pintofale-package-interactive-analysis-line-emission"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2019-05/PINTofALE_Hero.jpg?itok=mqB5NVsV')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>PINTofALE (Package for Interactive Analysis of Line Emission)</h3> <div class="h4">Astrophysical environments are often strikingly different from those on Earth, but there’s no direct way for astronomers to measure conditions in space. Instead, they must infer environmental properties from the behavior of atoms, particularly the way they absorb and emit light. For this to work, researchers need to use databases of atomic spectra, which requires writing or using computer code. PINTofALE (Package for Interactive Analysis of Line Emission) is a software toolkit designed to streamline this process, giving astronomers a powerful way to use X-ray and ultraviolet atomic data without having to write their own code every time. The package was developed by researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and is provided for free as a service to astronomers.<br /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">6</div> </div> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="views-element-container"><div class="numbered-projects-grid curated-news-section has-searchbar js-view-dom-id-82f900920960b8b8c2b04d5d918021e75083d8916c42e1859bbf12758e0ef004"> <div class="gutter-lock gutter-lock--center"> <div class="standard-column"> <div class="copy-box headline"> <h2>Telescopes and Instruments</h2> </div> <div> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/airborne-infrared-spectrometer-air-spec"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2019-03/AIR-Spec_Hero-20745696502074569650.jpg?itok=2aWhYucU')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>AIR-Spec/ASPIRE</h3> <div class="h4">The Sun generates a powerful magnetic field, which drives the solar storms that occasionally batter the worlds of the Solar System. However, the magnetic fields in the solar corona are very hard to observe, despite their importance in creating space weather. For that reason, scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian developed the Airborne Infrared Spectrometer (AIR-Spec), an instrument carried aboard an airplane to measure the properties and effects of the coronal magnetic field during solar eclipses, where the corona is most plainly visible. AIR-Spec was inaugurated during the 2017 total solar eclipse visible across the United States; an improved version will fly during the 2019 eclipse visible from South America and the southern Pacific Ocean.<br /> <br /> Visit the AIR-Spec Website<br /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">1</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/arcus"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2019-03/Arcus_Hero-10515517521051551752.jpg?itok=hH7N5gw0')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>Arcus</h3> <div class="h4">The most powerful astronomical events are often very bright in X-rays, including supermassive black holes, the hot atmospheres of stars, and the extremely hot plasmas in and around galaxy clusters. Arcus is a proposed NASA space telescope designed to study the X-ray spectrum of a wide range of astronomical phenomena to a level of sensitivity higher than any previous X-ray observatory. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists are the leaders of the collaboration proposing Arcus. The mission proposal will be due in late 2023 and, if ultimately accepted, Arcus would launch in 2031.<br /> <br /> See Arcus Website </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">2</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/solar-and-heliospheric-observer-soho"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2019-03/SOHO_Hero-14861181691486118169.jpg?itok=miI80ZGl')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO)</h3> <div class="h4">The Sun is the only star we can study in detail, providing us with the opportunity to observe stellar internal structure, magnetic fields, and atmosphere. Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO), a space observatory jointly operated by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), has been one of the best sources for that knowledge. Originally designed to operate for two years, SOHO has provided daily data on the Sun for more than twenty years, making it one of the longest running space observatories. During that time, SOHO has monitored the Sun’s atmosphere, surface, and seismology, using a wide range of scientific instruments. Scientists and engineers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian developed the instrument SOHO uses to measure the ultraviolet spectrum of the Sun.<br /> <br /> Visit the SOHO/UVCS Website<br /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">3</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/solar-dynamics-observatory-sdo"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2019-05/SDO_2.jpg?itok=XrMRtsBb')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)</h3> <div class="h4">The Sun is both life-giving and dangerous. Variations in the Sun’s light and wind have profound effects on Earth, while solar storms can wreak havoc on power and communications systems. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a spacecraft dedicated to studying these potentially dangerous variations, and the magnetic fields that drive them. Engineers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian contributed to the design and construction of the four Atmospheric Imaging Array (AIA) telescopes. AIA is one of the three major experiments carried by SDO.<br /> <br /> Visit the SDO Website<br /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">4</div> </div> </a> <a class="copy-box" href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/coronal-spectrographic-imager-euv-cosie"> <div class="grid grid--no-gutters grid--no-bottom-margin"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--5-950"> <div class="news-photo-frame" style="background-image: url('https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/imported_image/fe201214.jpg?itok=ZLbl8BiJ')"></div> </div> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6-700 grid__col--7-950"> <div class="inside-copy"> <h3>The Coronal Spectrographic Imager in the EUV (COSIE)</h3> <div class="h4">Space weather is a matter of concern for all of us: storms from the Sun can disrupt global communications and electrical power grids. However, we still don’t understand exactly how these storms are formed, much less how to predict them. To complement existing solar observations, the Coronal Spectrographic Imager in the EUV (COSIE) is a proposed telescope for use on the International Space Station, designed to view the Sun in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. If the project is selected, COSIE would provide a thousand times improvement in EUV observations of the Sun’s atmosphere over existing telescopes, providing a better means of spotting and predicting solar storms. COSIE is a proposal by researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, who are also developing the technology to make the instrument possible.<br /> </div> </div> </div> <div class="item-number">5</div> </div> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer style="background-image: url(/sites/default/files/2018-06/CfA_Footer.jpg)"> <nav aria-label="Footer Navigation"> <div class="inside-nav"> <div class="grid"> <div class="grid__col grid__col--6 grid__col--4-600 grid__col--2-1000"> <div role="navigation" aria-labelledby="block-footercolumntwo-menu" id="block-footercolumntwo" class="menu-hold block block-menu navigation menu--footer-column-two"> <h2 class="visually-hidden" id="block-footercolumntwo-menu">Footer Column Two</h2> <ul> <li> <a href="/big-questions" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/3206">Big Questions</a> </li> <li> <a href="/research" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/3210">Research</a> </li> <li> <a href="/people" 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