Spectroscopy

What is spectroscopy? The concept has changed over time, and now includes any measurement of a quantity as function of either wavelength or frequency.

A branch of physics, spectroscopy refers to the production, measurement, and interpretation of electromagnetic spectra that arise either from emission or absorption of radiant energy by various substances.

Originally, spectroscopy was the study of the interaction between radiation and matter as a function of wavelength - thus it often referred to the use of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g. by a prism.

The concept of spectroscopy has now been expanded to include any measurement of a quantity as function of either wavelength or frequency. This can include both interactions with particle radiation or to a response to an alternating field or varying frequency.

Techniques such as NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) offer non-invasive analytical options for fields such as plant biotechnology and food processing. Similar to an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), NMRs are also used in medical applications.

Various forms of this technique can be found throughout the sciences, the non-destructive analysis afforded by this tool lending itself to fields as diverse as the determination of chemical structure, microimaging, plant metabolism studies, astronomy and remote sensing.

Indeed, most large telescopes now have spectrometers in them, allowing researchers to measure the chemical composition and physical properties of astronomical objects, and also assess their velocities.