We know that just by studying the spectrum an astronomer can tell you what a star billions of miles away is made of and the elements present, take the star’s temperature, figure out how fast it is moving, a on s towards lets of the into which white light IS broken up when it is bent, as when it goes through a prism. All across the spectrum, in addition to the shadings of color, there are hundreds of parallel lines. They are known as Fraunhofer lines, in honor of their discoverer.