Spectroscopy: How Astronomy Really Gets Done

Everyone knows a picture is worth a thousand words, but a spectrum is worth at least a thousand pictures.  The history of  spectroscopy is intricately linked with every major discovery in astronomy and astrophysics in the last 120  years.  In this talk, Dr. O’Meara, Chief Scientist at Keck Observatory, will take a brief tour through this history and show how the most powerful spectrometers  are revolutionizing the understanding of our universe, from the Big Bang to biosignatures.