Glossary term: Visible Spectrum
Description: Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between about 380 and 750 nanometers is visible to the human eye and is called visible light. When electromagnetic radiation is split up into a spectrum, ordering all the different kinds of radiation by wavelength and mapping how much radiation is reaching us in each wavelength region, the part of the spectrum between 380 and 750 nanometers is the visible spectrum. There, from shortest to longest wavelength, we find violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red light, arranged continuously – the colors of the rainbow, nature's way of producing such a spectral composition naturally, as the Sun's light is refracted within small drops of water.
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Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
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".
