spectroscope

American  

[spek-truh-skohp] / ˈspɛk trəˌskoʊp /

noun

Optics.

1. an optical device for producing and observing a spectrum of light or radiation from any source, consisting essentially of a slit through which the radiation passes, a collimating lens, and an Amici prism.

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spectroscope British  

/ ˌspɛktrəˈskɒpɪk, ˈspɛktrəˌskəʊp /

noun

1. any of a number of instruments for dispersing electromagnetic radiation and thus forming or recording a spectrum See also spectrometer

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spectroscope Scientific  

/ spĕk′trə-skōp′ /

1. Any of various instruments used to analyze the component parts of a sample by separating its parts into a spectrum.

2. ◆ In a light spectroscope, light is focused into a thin beam of parallel rays by a lens, and then passed through a prism or diffraction grating that separates the light into a frequency spectrum. The intensity of light at different frequencies in the spectrum can be analyzed to determine certain properties of the source of the light, such as its chemical composition or how quickly it is moving.

3. ◆ In a mass spectroscope, sample ions are beamed through an electric or magnetic field that deflects the ions; the amount of deflection depends on the ratio of their mass to their electric charge. The ion beam is thus split into separate bands; the collection of bands is called the mass spectrum of the sample, and can be analyzed to determine the distribution of ions in the sample. Spectroscopes are also called spectrographs.

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Other Word Forms

• spectroscopic
  adjective
• spectroscopical
  adjective
• spectroscopically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of spectroscope

First recorded in 1860–65; spectro- + -scope

Example Sentences

To overcome this scale mismatch, the researchers developed a chip-sized spectroscope that compresses THz light -- the range where many quantum effects occur -- from about 1 millimeter down to just 3 micrometers.

From Science Daily • Oct. 21, 2025

It makes use of an existing 4-meter telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona, retrofitted with a spectroscope that gathers light from 5000 galaxies at the same time.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 4, 2024

The rover’s laser-induced spectroscope instrument also detected aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon on the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO, said in a post on its website.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 29, 2023

William contributed to the origins of astrophysics as the first to use a spectroscope to detect stellar motion in the line of sight; Margaret pioneered astrophotography.

From Nature • Apr. 4, 2017

We projected a pencil through the spectroscope, and obtained, for the first time in the history of science, the spectrum of a spectre.

From Strange Stories by Allen, Grant