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Spectroscopy is critical to astrophysics across the electromagnetic
spectrum. At the CfA theoretical atomic and molecular calculations are
used to produce lists of spectral features that can be observed and
modeled by astronomers. Laboratory experiments are also important, to
test the atomic and molecular theory and in some cases to help improve
the accuracy of the calculations. An observed spectrum from an
astronomical source we are trying to understand may contain a
complicated mix of species. Laboratory astrophysics allows us to
develop lists for each species of wavelengths (or energies), expected
line strengths, and other properties.
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