fraunhofer lines

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In astronomical spectroscopy, dark lines in a star's spectrum caused by selective absorption of its radiation at specific wavelengths by the various chemical elements in its atmosphere. First observed in 1802, they are named for the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826), who from 1814 plotted over 500 of them and designated the brightest with the first few letters of the alphabet. About 25,000 Fraunhofer lines are known to exist in the Sun's spectrum, between the wavelengths of 2,950 and 10,000 angstroms
The lines of the spectrum; especially and properly, the dark lines of the solar spectrum, so called because first accurately observed and interpreted by Fraunhofer, a German physicist

Related Terms

Fraunhofer line
any of a series of dark lines in the solar spectrum; due to the absorption of light by atoms and molecules in the Sun's atmosphere
fraunhofer lines
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