1-148-902 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Spectroscope, 1872. Instrument of the type developed by Robert Bunsen (1811-1899) and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887) during the 1850s. Their work provided a precise tool to make use of Joseph von Fraunhofer's (1787-1826) observatians of dark lines in the solar spectrum (1814). The technique of chemical analysis through spectroscopy has become essential in both terrestrial and astronomical studies. From Spectrum Analysis by H Schellen. (London, 1872).