A raw spectrum, straight from the HARPS

The light of a star was dispersed according to its colours, or wavelengths, in a very long strip. The optical elements in the spectrograph chop this long spectrum in a series of shorter ones which are positioned one after the other on the two detectors of the instrument. In order to measure the wavelength with a very high accuracy, the light from a laser comb (eso0826) is also dispersed by the spectrograph, and forms a second series of lines just next to the spectrum of the star. The light from the laser comb appears as a series of dots, whose position is well known and serve as reference.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:harps_cc
Type:Observation
Release date:2 October 2014, 09:10
Size:4300 x 4100 px

About the Object

Type:Unspecified : Technology : Observatory : Instrument
Category:La Silla

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