El espectroscopio es uno de los instrumentos más fascinantes y necesarios de nuestra era moderna. Las personas que no están involucradas directamente en el campo de la astronomía y la física generalmente no han escuchado sobre la existencia, procedencia y función de este particular artefacto.
Gracias a él podemos conocer la composición química de estrellas, galaxias y muchos otros cuerpos celestes ubicados a millones de años luz de nuestro planeta.
El descubrimiento del arcoíris
Aristóteles desarrolló la primera teoría conocida del color, creyendo que fue enviada por los Dioses desde el cielo a través de rayos celestes de luz. Sugirió que todos los colores provenían del blanco y negro, claridad y oscuridad, y los relacionó con los cuatro elementos: agua, aire, tierra y fuego. Los principios de Aristóteles en este campo se mantuvieron intactos durante más de 2,000 años hasta ser reemplazados por los de Isaac Newton.
En la década de 1660, el físico y matemático inglés Isaac Newton comenzó una serie de experimentos que involucraban la luz solar y el uso de prismas. Demostró que la luz blanca que vemos cotidianamente en todas partes se podía descomponer en siete colores distintos, los colores del arcoíris. Esto fue un avance monumental, ya que probaba científicamente la estructura de nuestro espectro visual. Newton abrió el camino para que otros experimentaran con este nuevo esquema de estudio de manera científica. Su trabajo condujo a avances en óptica, física, química, percepción y el estudio del color en la naturaleza.
Opticks, una de las grandes obras en la historia de la ciencia, documenta los descubrimientos de Newton a partir de sus experimentos al pasar la luz a través de un prisma. Identificó los colores rojo, naranja, amarillo, verde, azul, índigo y violeta, que conforman el espectro visible. Esto es la porción estrecha dentro del espectro electromagnético que puede ser vista por el ojo humano.

Otras formas de radiación electromagnética, ondas de energía, que no podemos ver incluyen radio, gamma, microondas, rayos infrarojos y rayos ultravioleta. Las células en nuestros ojos, llamadas conos, son sensibles a las longitudes de onda que se encuentran en el espectro visible. Nos permiten ver solo algunos de los colores que realmente existen.
El espectroscopio
La ciencia desarrollada por Newton en este campo constituyó parte de los cimientos de muchas áreas de estudio, como la astronomía y la observación del universo. En este sentido, es el antecedente más importante del espectroscopio, un instrumento que mide las propiedades de la luz sobre una porción específica del espectro electromagnético.
Utiliza el mismo principio del uso del prisma, con la variante de observarlo y clasificarlo de manera más exacta que con el simple ojo humano.
El primer espectroscopio fue inventado en 1859 por el químico alemán Robert Wilhelm Bunsen y el físico alemán Gustav Robert Kirchhoff. Basados en los escritos hechos por Newton, estos cientfíficos utilizaron su invento para medir la química en materiales que emiten luz cuando se calientan. Parte de su estudio reveló que el espectro de luz contiene información de la composición química de todas las cosas que nos rodean. La luz interactúa con nuestro entorno y, al utilizar el espectroscopio, logramos descomponerla para revelar la constitución del material en cuestión.
La lectura del espectro, el funcionamiento del espectroscopio
El principio básico a partir del cual se desarrolla el funcionamiento del espectroscopio es que la luz alberga información sobre el material con el que interactúa. Todos los materiales interactúan de manera diferente con la luz, y podemos usar su espectro para comprender de qué está hecho ese elemento.
La materia está compuesta de átomos. En ellos, los electrones giran alrededor del núcleo en diferentes cantidades y de distintas maneras dependiendo del objeto que se esté analizando.
La luz pasa a través de la materia, interactúa con los electrones presentes a su paso, y estos últimos dejan lineas de sombra como cualquier objeto normal que se interpone en su camino.
Son estas líneas las que, en conjunto con todo el panorama, nos permiten leer qué tipo de materia es la analizada y de que está compuesta. Por ejemplo, el espectro de luz emitido por el sodio no se parece al emitido por el nitrógeno, ni al de ningún otro elemento.

La aplicación del espectroscopio en la observación del universo
En 1860, el astrónomo italiano Giovanni Battista Donati tuvo la idea de combinar un espectroscopio con su telescopio. Se dio cuenta de que el mismo principio aplicado en la tierra se podía aplicar al espacio exterior, no importando la distancia. Analizó rudimentariamente los espectros de quince estrellas y publicó sus resultados en 1863. Con los avances de Battista se abrió un nuevo campo de estudio, el análisis de composición química aplicado a cuerpos celestes.
Después de estos avances, la astrofísica inglesa Cecilia Payne, a principios del siglo XX, logró dar el siguiente paso con toda la información recopilada en su momento. Mostró cómo decodificar los complicados espectros de la luz de las estrellas para aprender las cantidades relativas de los elementos químicos en ellas y, sobre todo, empezar a hacer una verdadera clasificación de acuerdo a la composición, temperatura, y luminosidad que tenían. Desafió a toda la comunidad científica de la época, desmintiendo muchas creencias que ya se daban por hechos. Fue ella la que inició la verdadera revolución en la comprensión del campo astronómico.
El hallazgo del elemento más común en el universo visible
Uno de los escándalos más conocidos fue su descubrimiento del elemento más común en el espacio exterior. Demostró que la mayor parte de la masa del universo visible es hidrógeno, el elemento más liviano, y no los más pesados como se creía hasta ese momento. Parece algo muy simple, pero fue un hallazgo revolucionario. Aún así, la comunidad tardó mucho tiempo en siquiera considerar su postura y analizar el trabajo que la sustentaba. Payne tuvo que utilizar cierto tono de humildad falsa en sus estudios para que no la juzgaran como soberbia y descartasen de inmediato.
En unos pocos años, finalmente la comunidad apoyó sus teorías. Cecilia Payne había demostrado por primera vez cómo «leer» la temperatura de la superficie de cualquier estrella a partir de su espectro. Reveló que el orden de las clases espectrales estelares era de hecho una secuencia de temperaturas decrecientes y fue capaz de calcularlas. El llamado diagrama de Hertzsprung-Russell, un esquema de luminosidad de las estrellas, ahora podría interpretarse correctamente, y se convirtió por mucho en la herramienta de análisis e interpretación más poderosa en astrofísica estelar.
El espectroscopio en la actualidad
El telescopio Hubble es un claro ejemplo del análisis diario del espacio exterior. Es famoso por las imágenes capturadas con sus increíbles cámaras, pero a menudo también se centra en la tecnología de sus espectroscopios.

Éstos recopilan datos relevantes que permite a los científicos modernos seguir explorando nuevas áreas del espacio. Datos que revelan detalles importantes sobre la composición de las atmósferas en los exoplanetas, la composición de estrellas y nebulosas, el movimiento de las galaxias y más.
Con todo, el espectroscopio está más presente que nunca. Nos permite determinar si la vida sería posible en otros lugares, especulando si existe alguna civilización habitando otros planetas de acuerdo a su estructura química y, generando también una esperanza de vida para la especie humana en un futuro no tan lejano.
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