spectroheliograph

American  

[spek-troh-hee-lee-uh-graf, -grahf] / ˌspɛk troʊˈhi li əˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /

noun

1. an apparatus for making photographs of the sun with a monochromatic light to show the details of the sun's surface and surroundings as they would appear if the sun emitted only that light.

---

spectroheliograph British  

/ -ˌɡræf, ˌspɛktrəʊˈhiːlɪəˌɡrɑːf /

noun

1. an instrument used to obtain an image of the sun in light of a particular wavelength, such as calcium or hydrogen, to show the distribution of the element over the surface and in the solar atmosphere. The image obtained is a spectroheliogram

---

Other Word Forms

• spectroheliographic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of spectroheliograph

First recorded in 1890–95; spectro- + heliograph

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spectroheliograph

They anatomize sunspots by way of US astronomer George Ellery Hale, who pioneered their observation with his 1889 invention of the spectroheliograph.

From Nature ● Jul. 18, 2017

This difference allows astronomers to photograph the brighter parts of the sun's atmosphere with a "spectroheliograph," a prism spectroscope which casts sunlight of only one color on a photographic plate.

From Time Magazine Archive

One instrument, the spectroheliograph, takes pictures of the sun in the light that comes from single elements, such as hydrogen or calcium.

From Time Magazine Archive

Though tricky, it works even better than the spectroheliograph, showing the corona, the faintly glowing halo which surrounds the sun.

From Time Magazine Archive

Although devised for quite another purpose, that of photographing the hydrogen prominences on the limb of the sun, the spectroheliograph has contributed very effectively to many departments of solar research.

From Astronomy: The Science of the Heavenly Bodies by Todd, David Peck