Starlight (6815972618) - A close up of a cell phone with multiple lines

NIST researchers and collaborators measured the frequencies, or colors, of infrared starlight (three solid bands with faint tick marks indicating where light is absorbed by the atmosphere) by comparing the missing light to a laser frequency comb reference "ruler" (sets of bright vertical bars indicating precise wavelengths, which increase from left to right). The three sets of starlight and comb light are shown in false color, from deeper orange (the most light) to orange-white (slightly less light) to black (very little light).
See also www.nist.gov/pml/div688/comb-030612.cfm
Credit: CU/NIST/Penn State
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