Glossary term: Visible Spectrum
Description: Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between about 380 and 750 nanometers is visible to the human eye and is called visible light. When electromagnetic radiation is split up into a spectrum, ordering all the different kinds of radiation by wavelength and mapping how much radiation is reaching us in each wavelength region, the part of the spectrum between 380 and 750 nanometers is the visible spectrum. There, from shortest to longest wavelength, we find violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red light, arranged continuously – the colors of the rainbow, nature's way of producing such a spectral composition naturally, as the Sun's light is refracted within small drops of water.
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Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
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In Other Languages
- Arabic: الطيف المرئي
- German: Sichtbares Spektrum
- Spanish: Espectro visible
- French: Spectre visible
- Italian: Spettro visibile
- Simplified Chinese: 可见光谱
- Traditional Chinese: 可見光譜
Related Media
The Pillars of Creation in comparison
Caption: The 'Pillars of Creation' are a renowned astronomical feature situated within the Eagle Nebula in the Serpens constellation. The illustration provides a direct comparison between images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), showcasing the pillars, which span several light years in diameter, in both visible light (also known as optical light) and infrared light. On the left are the pillars as seen by Hubble in visual light, taken in 2014. It displays dark pillars against an opaque background, with only a handful of visible stars. Conversely, the counterpart on the right is Webb’s near-infrared view published in 2022, penetrating the dust and revealing numerous stars of varying sizes.
Their distance from Earth is approximately 6,500 to 7,000 light years. Within these pillars, new stars are constantly forming, making them a subject of extensive study by astronomers. Composed mostly of cool molecular hydrogen and small amounts of interstellar dust, they are subject to erosion by the intense ultraviolet radiation emitted by nearby massive and newborn stars, a process known as photoevaporation.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
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