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Spectroscopy 𓆩⚪𓆪｜Definition｜1st｜20251119205401-00-⌔
Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra as it interacts with matter.1 In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from radiated visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Spectroscopy, primarily in the electromagnetic spectrum, is a fundamental exploratory tool in the fields of astronomy, chemistry, materials science, and physics, allowing the composition, physical and electronic structure of matter to be investigated at the atomic, molecular and macro scale, and over astronomical distances.
Historically, spectroscopy originated as the study of the wavelength dependence of the absorption by gas phase matter of visible light dispersed by a prism. Current applications of spectroscopy include biomedical spectroscopy in the areas of tissue analysis and medical imaging. Matter waves and acoustic waves can be considered forms of radiative energy, and recently gravitational waves have been associated with a spectral signature in the context of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).2
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Link to original Footnotes
Joosten, Heinz-Gerd; Golloch, Alfred; Flock, Jörg; Killewald, Susan (2020). “Introduction”. Atomic Emission Spectrometry: AES - Spark, Arc, Laser Excitation. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 1. doi:10.1515/9783110529692-001 (inactive 15 January 2026). ISBN 978-3-11-052969-2. ↩
Bartusiak, Marcia (2017-06-27), “Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony: The Story of a Gamble, Two Black Holes, and a New Age of Astronomy”, Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony, Yale University Press, doi:10.12987/9780300228120, ISBN 978-0-300-22812-0, OCLC 1039140043, S2CID 246149887, retrieved 2023-05-22 Google Books ↩
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