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 researchers spotted the oversized planet, named LHS 3154b, using an astronomical spectrograph built at Penn State by a team of scientists led by Mahadevan.

From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2023

The researchers utilized an astronomical spectrograph that was put together by a team of scientists led by Mahadevan.

From Salon • Nov. 30, 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

Integral Field Unit: A combined camera and spectrograph captures an image, along with spectra for each pixel, revealing how the light varies across the field of view.

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