spectrograph

American  

[spek-truh-graf, -grahf] / ˈspɛk trəˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /

noun

1. a spectroscope for photographing or producing a representation of a spectrum.

2. sound spectrograph.

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spectrograph British  

/ ˈspɛktrəʊˌɡrɑːf, -ˌɡræf /

noun

1. a spectroscope or spectrometer that produces a photographic record ( spectrogram ) of a spectrum See also sound spectrograph

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spectrograph Scientific  

/ spĕk′trə-grăf′ /

1. A photograph or computer image of a spectrum produced by a spectroscope.

2. Also called spectrogram

3. See spectroscope

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Other Word Forms

• spectrographer noun
• spectrographic adjective
• spectrographically adverb
• spectrography noun

Etymology

Origin of spectrograph

First recorded in 1880–85; spectro- + -graph

Example Sentences

The X-shooter spectrograph on ESO's VLT in the Chilean Atacama Desert provided the crucial data.

From Science Daily • Feb. 22, 2024

Now, Webb has completely revolutionized the search for galaxy neighborhoods because of an instrument called a wide-field slitless spectrograph.

From Salon • Sep. 12, 2023

The team had wanted to use an array of thousands of tiny switchable mirrors to deflect light from individual galaxies into a light-splitting spectrograph, gathering spectra from many galaxies at once.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 21, 2023

It’s packaged together with the NIRISS, which has a camera and a spectrograph to take images and spectra in the near-infrared range.

From Scientific American • Dec. 1, 2022

That gave him not only oversight of Fermi’s reactor research at Columbia, for which the committee made a six-month appropriation of $340,000, but also jurisdiction over the spectrograph and plutonium projects at Lawrence’s Rad Lab.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik