Joseph von Fraunhofer

Absorption Spectra (Joseph von Fraunhofer)

In 1814 Joseph von Fraunhofer noticed that the light from the sun does not give a continuous spectrum. By using an unusually good prism, Fraunhofer observed a series of dark lines in the sun's spectrum, the more prominent of which he labeled A through H. Fraunhofer's experiment is an example of an absorption spectrum, some of the light given off by the sun is apparently absorbed before it reaches the earth.