Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various instruments used to analyze a sample by separating its components into a spectrum.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An instrument used to produce a spectrum of the light (or, more generally, the radiation) from any source by the passage of the rays through a prism or their reflection from a grating, and for the study of the spectrum so formed.
- To use the spectroscope; study by means of observations with the spectroscope.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Physics) An optical instrument for forming and examining spectra (as that of solar light, or those produced by flames in which different substances are volatilized), so as to determine, from the position of the spectral lines, the composition of the substance.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an optical instrument for spectrographic analysis
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Here the refracting prism -- or the combination of prisms known as the "spectroscope" -- comes to its aid, teaching it to measure as well as to perceive.
A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition 1874
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You will find it very interesting to make the first of Newton's experiments yourself, and some day perhaps you will hear what wonderful things about the sun and the stars are being learnt in our own time by means of the spectroscope, which is an instrument having a fine slit through which the ray is passed before it is allowed to fall upon the prism.
Twilight and Dawn Simple Talks on the Six Days of Creation Caroline Pridham
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The essential parts of a spectroscope are the slit -- an opening perhaps
Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 Anonymous
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By means of the spectroscope, which is essentially a magnifying lens attached to a prism of glass, it is possible to locate the lines with great accuracy, and it was soon shown that here was a new means of chemical analysis of the most exquisite delicacy.
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At the other end of the spectroscope is the photographic plate.
History of Astronomy George Forbes 1892
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The spectroscope is a singularly beautiful and delicate instrument, consisting, essentially, of a prism of glass, which, decomposing the light of any heavenly body to which the instrument is directed, presents
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8 Epigrams, On With the Dance, Negligible Tales Ambrose Bierce 1878
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One of the most difficult and delicate problems solved by the spectroscope is the approach or departure of a light-giving body in the line of sight.
Recreations in Astronomy With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work Henry White Warren 1871
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The spectroscope is the improved instrument by which the diffracting prism is best employed in producing the spectrum.
Notable Events of the Nineteenth Century Great Deeds of Men and Nations and the Progress of the World Various 1870
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Twenty years ago the spectroscope was a thing undreamt of -- now astronomers reckon it as of equal value with the telescope, while chemists find it indispensable to their researches.
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The essential parts of a spectroscope are the slit -- an opening perhaps 1/100th of an inch wide and 1/10th of an inch long -- to admit the light properly; a lens to render the light rays parallel before they fall upon the prism or grating; a prism or grating; a lens to receive the rays after they have been dispersed by the prism or grating and to form an image of the spectrum a short distance in front of the eye, where the eye will see the spectrum or a sensitive dry-plate will photograph it.
The Scientific Monthly, October-December 1915 Scientific Monthly 1915
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