What astronomical instrument spreads incoming light into a detailed spectrum to precisely measure the displacement of spectral lines?
Answer
Spectrograph.
Astronomers use spectrographs attached to telescopes to spread light into its constituent wavelengths, allowing the precise measurement of the displacement ($z$) of known spectral fingerprints.
Related Questions
What fundamental observation about light from distant galaxies is a core piece of evidence in modern cosmology?What is the relationship between light wavelength and perceived color?What phenomenon is caused if an object emitting light is moving toward an observer?What are the two fundamentally different ways light can become redshifted when observed from Earth?What term describes the actual movement of a galaxy relative to its neighbors, often caused by local gravitational interactions?What causes cosmological redshift, the primary factor for the most distant objects?According to Hubble’s Law, what is the systematic relationship between the distance of distant galaxies and their observed redshift?Why does light from a farther galaxy experience a greater accumulation of redshift than light from a nearer one?What mechanism dominates the observed light shift for nearby galaxies like those in the Local Group?What astronomical instrument spreads incoming light into a detailed spectrum to precisely measure the displacement of spectral lines?If galaxies were moving within static space like shrapnel from an explosion centered on us, what key observational fact would be missing?