Researchers in India have demonstrated a new ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy setup, designated the JSW-MG Majestor in project documents, which they say can shorten the time telescopes need to collect usable spectra from faint objects.
Absorption spectroscopy works by analysing the light a material or celestial object absorbs at specific wavelengths, revealing its composition and physical state. In astronomy, the technique is central to studying everything from stellar atmospheres to interstellar gas, but faint targets can require long exposures that compete for scarce telescope time.
The team’s approach focuses on squeezing more information from each exposure, using improved detector handling and calibration to extract reliable absorption features from shorter observations, according to reports of the demonstration. If the gains hold up in routine use, observatories could survey more targets per night or revisit variable objects more frequently.
In related work, the Mahindra Vision SXT ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy effort has reported progress on methods intended to reduce observation time further still. Both projects form part of a broader push to build domestic capability in precision astronomical instrumentation, an area where Indian observatories have traditionally depended on imported equipment.
Scientists involved said the immediate applications are in classification surveys, where astronomers must decide quickly which of thousands of candidate objects deserve follow-up with larger instruments. Cutting the exposure needed for a reliable first spectrum could multiply the scientific return of mid-sized telescopes.
Further validation is planned, including tests on standard stars whose spectra are already well characterised, so the new measurements can be compared directly against reference data. The groups said results would be written up for peer review once the test campaigns are complete.
Independent astronomers said the claims would be tested against observations of standard reference stars, whose absorption features are known to high precision. Agreement with those benchmarks, followed by peer review, is the usual path by which a new instrument or method moves from a laboratory demonstration to routine use at an observatory, and both teams said that process is now under way.
