How does a Spectrograph Work?

A spectrograph is an instrument used to obtain and record an astronomical spectrum. The

 Dispersing Light
 Structure of a Spectrograph
 Recording a Spectrum

Dispersing Light

Light entering a spectrograph can be split or dispersed into a spectrum by one of two means,
using a prism or a diffraction grating. When Newton split light into a spectrum in the 1660s
he used a glass prism. School students often use perspex prisms from ray box kits to disperse
or "split" white light from an incandescent bulb into the component colours of the spectrum.
This effect arises due to the fact that the different wavelengths of light also have different
frequencies. As they pass through a prism, they undergo refraction, a change in velocity due
to the change in medium. If the light falls incident to to the prism at an angle other than 90° it
will also change direction. Red light has a longer wavelength than blue light so its angle of
refraction is lower, both at entry to and exit from the prism. This means it gets bent less. The
light emerging from the prism is dispersed as shown schematically in the diagram below.

Most astronomical spectrographs use diffraction gratings rather than prisms. Diffraction
gratings are more efficient than prisms which can absorb some of the light passing through
them. As every photon is precious when trying to take a spectrum from a faint source
astronomers do not like wasting them. A diffraction grating has thousands of narrow lines
ruled onto a glass surface. It reflects rather than refracts light so no photons are "lost". The
response from a grating is also linear whereas a prism disperses blue light much more than in
the red part of the spectrum. Gratings can also reflect light in the UV wavebands unlike a
glass prism which is opaque to UV. A common example of a diffraction grating is a CD
where the pits encoding the digital information act as a grating and disperse light into a
colourful spectrum.

Structure of a Spectrograph

The schematic diagram below shows the key components of a modern slit spectrograph.
The slit on the spectrograph limits the light entering the spectrograph so that it acts as a point
source of light from a larger image. This allows an astronomer to take a number of spectra
from different regions of an extended source such as a galaxy or of s specific star in the
telescope's field of view. Light is then collimated (made parallel) before hitting a diffraction
grating. This disperses the light into component wavelengths which can then by focused by a
camera mirror into a detector such as a charged-couple device (CCD). By rotating the grating
different parts of the dispersed spectrum can be focused on the camera. The comparison lamp
is vital in that it provides spectral lines of known wavelength (eg sodium or neon) at rest with
respect to the spectrograph, allowing the spectrum of the distant source to be calibrated and
any shift of spectral lines to be measured.

Recording the Spectrum

Newton recorded the spectrum of sunlight by drawing it. The rise of spectroscopy for
astronomical use was in part due to its linkage with another emerging technology -
photography. Astronomical spectra could be recorded by photographing them on glass plates.
This was a far superior approach to viewing them with through an eyepiece and trying to
draw the image. Photographic records of spectra could be stored for later analysis, copied for
distribution or publication and the spectral lines could be measured relative to spectral lines
from a stationary lamp producing spectral lines of known wavelength. It was only by
observing and photographing the spectra of thousands of stars that astronomers were able to
classify them into spectral classes and thus start to understand the characteristics of stars.
Photographic spectra were generally recorded on glass plates rather than photographic film as
plates would not stretch. The image of the spectrum was normally presented as a negative so
that the absorption lines show up as white lines on a dark background. The example below
shows the photographic spectrum of a standard reference star, α Lyrae from the 1943 An
Atlas of Stellar Spectra.
Photoelectric spectroscopy allows spectral information to be recorded electronically and
digitally rather than on photographic plates. Modern astronomical charged-couple devices or
CCDs can reach a quantum efficiency of about 90% compared with about 1% for
photographic emulsions. This means a CCD can convert almost 9 out of 10 incident photons
into useful information compared with about 1 in 100 for film. Using a CCD an astronomer
can therefore obtain a useful spectrum much quicker than using a photographic plate and can
also obtain spectra from much fainter sources. CCDs have a more linear response over time
than photographic emulsions which lose sensitivity with increased exposure. A spectra
recorded on a CCD can be read directly to a computer disk for storage and analysis. The
digital nature of the information allows for rapid processing and correction for atmospheric
contributions to the spectrum. Modern spectra are therefore normally displayed as intensity
plots of relative intensity versus wavelength as is shown below for a stellar spectrum.

Multifibre Spectroscopy

The last decade has seen the growth in multifibre spectroscopy. This involves the use of
optical fibres to take light from the focal plane of the telescope to a spectrograph. A key
advantage of this technique is that more than one spectrum can be obtained simultaneously,
dramatically improving the efficiency of observing time on a telescope. Many of the
techniques for multifibre spectroscopy were developed at the Anglo-Australian Observatory
for use on the AAT and the UK Schmidt telescopes.

The 2dF project revolutionised the emerging field of multifibre spectroscopy by using a
computerised robot to precisely position 400 minute prisms onto a metal plate so that each
prism could gather light from an object such as a galaxy or quasar. Attached to each prism
was an optical fibre that feeds into a spectrograph. The 2dF instrument sits at the top of the
AAT and can take spectra from 400 objects simultaneously over a 2 degree field of view.
Whilst observing one field, the robot sets up a second set of prisms on another plate which
can then be flipped over in a few minutes to begin observing a new field. This incredibly
efficient system allows spectra from thousands of objects to obtained in a single night's
observing run.