Astrophysics (Index)About

spectrometer

(device to measure light by wavelength across its spectrum)

The term spectrometer is for a device that measures a spectrum, e.g., the intensity of light at different wavelengths, a practice called spectrometry. As such, a spectroscope or spectrograph can be termed a spectrometer. Those two terms originally distinguished between a device that you look through (spectroscope) and one that recorded the spectrum on film (spectrograph), but modern advanced instruments virtually always focus the spectrum on a CCD or similar sensor, allowing the spectral data to be transmitted, recorded and analyzed electronically, and any of the three terms may be used. The terms may be used for analyzers of any part of the electromagnetic spectrum, but when used for other than visible light, that is usually mentioned, e.g., the phrase "X-ray spectrometer". Spectrometers are used as lab instruments and telescope instruments.

The term mass spectrometer is used for a different kind of device that does not concern light or other EMR: one that measures the relative number of particles entering it according to each individual particle's mass. Space probes often include mass spectrometers to analyze material collected, such as dust. Information about the masses provide clues to its makeup.


(color,EMR,instrument type)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrometer
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spectrometer
http://spie.org/publications/fg08_p02_spectrometerspectroscopespectrograph
https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analytical_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Analytical_Chemistry)/Instrumental_Analysis/Spectrometer

Referenced by pages:
Aditya-L1
Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE)
Air-SPEC
AMS-02
Arcus
Ariel 5
Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE)
Automated Planet Finder (APF)
BeppoSAX
Berkeley Extreme and Far-UV Spectrometer (BEFS)
Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO)
BUSS
Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO)
CASPER
Cassini
cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS)
CCAT
Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN)
Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS)
Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO)
CHIPS
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO)
CONCERTO
COSI
CRIRES
CubIXSS
DAVINCI
Dawn
Deep Space 1 (DS1)
DESHIMA
disperser
EnVision
Euclid
European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT)
EXCLAIM
EXPRES
Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST)
Gaia
Galileo
Gemini Observatory
GRANAT
grating
Green Bank Telescope (GBT)
Hayabusa2
HEAO-2
Herschel Space Observatory
heterodyne spectrometer
Hiltner Telescope
Hitomi
Hope Probe
imaging Fourier transform spectroscopy (IFTS)
imaging spectrometer
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)
INTEGRAL
integral field spectrograph
International Cometary Explorer (ICE)
IRTF
IRTS
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT)
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
JUICE
Keck Observatory
Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC)
Kvant 1
Large Altazimuth Telescope (BTA-6)
Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT)
Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT)
Lucy
Lunar Prospector
Lynx
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS)
Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Mars Express
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Mars Observer (MO)
Mars Odyssey
Mars Pathfinder (MPF)
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
mass spectrometer
MAVEN
MESSENGER
MMX
Mopra Telescope
NEAR Shoemaker (NEAR)
neutron spectrometer
New Horizons (NF1)
New Technology Telescope (NTT)
NEWS
Origins Space Telescope (OST)
OSO 8
particle spectrometer
Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO)
potassium/thorium ratio (K/Th ratio)
PRIMA
radial velocity method
Rosalind Franklin
Rosetta
SELENE
SMART-1
SOFIA
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
Solar Maximum Mission (SMM)
Solar Orbiter (SolO)
spectral correlator
spectrograph
spectrography
spectrometry
spectroscope
spectroscopy
Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
Suzaku
TD-1A
Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG)
TESS-Keck Survey (TKS)
Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)
Tianwen-1 (TW-1)
Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME)
Tubingen Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrometer (TUES)
Ulysses
United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT)
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
Uranus Orbiter and Probe
Venus Express
Voyager
Wind
XMM-Newton
Yohkoh

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