Spectra detectives
While images of the Universe excite and inspire, going ‘behind’ the images with the gift of spectroscopy is fundamental to understand what the pictures – or rather what is pictured – is made of.
Webb’s spectrographs allow scientists to decipher the secret language of the Universe, to analyse the materials that make up stars, nebulae, galaxies and the atmospheres of planets.
The light that enters the telescope is split into its different wavelengths. This split light is then focused onto a detector, forming a spectrum. The spectrum’s pattern can be analysed by astronomers – our spectra detectives – to decipher what atoms and molecules are present in the source and thereby to understand the various physical and chemical characteristics of these sources.