An excellent type of such an instrument is that shown in Fig. 141, due to Professor Abbé. The construction is analogous to Fig. 140. The ocular is a Huyghenian one with the slit mechanism (controlled by a milled head) at A in the usual place of the diaphragm. The slit is therefore in the focus of the eye lens, which serves as collimating lens. Above is the direct vision system J with the usual prisms which are slightly adjustable laterally by the screw P and spring Q.
Fig. 141.—Abbé Ocular Spectroscope.
At N is a tiny transparent scale of wave lengths illuminated by a faint light reflected from the mirror O, and in the focus of the little lens R, which transfers it by reflection from the front face of the prism to the eye, alongside the edge of the spectrum. One therefore sees the spectrum marked off by a bright line wave-length scale.
The pivot K and clamp L enable the whole to be swung side-wise so that one can look through the widened slit, locate the star, close the slit accurately upon it and swing on the prisms. M is the clamp in position angle. Sometimes a comparison prism is added, together with suitable means for throwing in spectra of gases or metals alongside that of the star, though these refinements are more generally reserved for instruments of higher dispersion.
To win the advantage of accurate centering of the star in the field gained by the swing-out of the spectroscope in Fig. 141 simple instruments like Fig. 140 are sometimes mounted with an ordinary ocular in a double nose-piece like that used for microscope objectives, so that either can be used at will.
Any ordinary pocket spectroscope, with or without scale or a comparison prism over part of the slit, can in fact be fitted to an adapter and used with the star focussed on the slit and a cylindrical lens, if necessary, as an eye-cap.
Such slit spectroscopes readily give the characteristics of stellar spectra and those of the brighter nebulæ or of comets. They enable one to identify the more typical lines and compare them with terrestrial sources, and save for solar work are about all the amateur observer finds use for.
For serious research a good deal more of an instrument is required, with a large telescope to collect the light, and means for photographing the spectra for permanent record. The cumulative effect of prolonged exposures makes it possible easily to record spectra much too faint to see with the same aperture, and exposures are often extended to many hours.
Spectroscopes for such use commonly employ dense flint prisms of about 60° refracting angle and refractive index of about 1.65, one, two, or three of these being fitted to the instrument as occasion requires. A fine example by Brashear is shown in Fig. 142, arranged for visual work on the 24 inch Lowell refractor. Here A is the slit, B the prism box, C the observing telescope, D the micrometer ocular with electric lamp for illuminating the wires, and E the link motion that keeps the prism faces at equal angles with collimator and observing telescope when the angle between these is changed to observe different parts of the spectrum. This precaution is necessary to maintain the best of definition.