Accession No
2670
Brief Description
spectroscope slit, by Adam Hilger, English, 1900 (c)
Origin
England; London
Maker
Hilger, Adam
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1900
Latest Date
1900
Inscription Date
Material
metal (steel, brass); glass
Dimensions
length 100mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Transferred from Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, 1978. Physical Chemistry Department, Cambridge (unknown date).
Inscription
‘A. HILGER
LONDON’ (in circle?)
Description Notes
Spectroscope slit, steel jaws, width adjustable by screw. On brass draw tube. Brass screw-in eyepiece mount on side, with eyepiece in single draw tube. Reflecting prism inside.
References
Events
Description
Spectroscope
In 1814 Joseph von Fraunhofer noticed that the sun’s spectrum, when dispersed by a glass prism, is crossed by hundreds of fine dark lines. These lines could be used to determine the chemical composition of the sun, stars and many other substances by spectral analysis. The first photograph of the spectrum of a star (Vega) was made by Henry Draper using a spectroscope in 1872.
There are various different forms of spectroscope, but all use a slit and collimator to make a parallel beam of light, a prism for dispersing different wavelengths and a telescope to observe the dispersed spectrum.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson on 18/10/2002
FM:45468
Images (Click to view full size):
