Glossary term: 光
Description: 光的本质是电磁辐射。在通常情况下，“光”一般是指波长处在一定范围内、从而让我们人类可以用肉眼看到的电磁辐射。人类能看到的光波长大致在380-750纳米（nm）之间，不过大多数人对波长短于 400 纳米的光敏感度很低。这只是电磁波谱的一个狭窄部分，完整的电磁波谱涵盖了从伽马射线（最短）到无线电波（最长）的各种波长。更广义地说，“光”这个术语有时适用于所有电磁辐射。
光的基本属性包括强度、传播方向、频率、光谱和偏振。光在真空中的速度被定义为每秒299,792,458米，这是自然界的基本常数之一。光的颜色取决于它的波长。在可见光谱中，紫光的波长最短，红光的波长最长。光有多种来源，包括自然光和人造光，而太阳是地球的主要光源。光是以一份一份的不连续形式发射和吸收的，这样的一“份”称为一个光子。光子同时具有波和粒子的特性，这种现象被称为波粒二象性。
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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval
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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