The Spectrum
17 stations across the electromagnetic spectrum — from kilometre-long submarine waves to gamma radiation. Four metrics tick in sync, coupled by real natural constants.
↓ Scroll = change frequency
ELF · Submarine Radio
Extremely low frequency waves — the only radiation that penetrates many metres of seawater.
AM Medium Wave
Travels hundreds of kilometres along the ground, intercontinental at night via the ionosphere.
VHF / FM
Quasi-optical propagation — line-of-sight range plus slight diffraction.
Microwave / Wi-Fi
The 2.4 GHz band excites rotational modes of water — exactly what microwave ovens exploit.
Cosmic Microwave Background
The echo of the Big Bang at 2.7255 K — the most precise black-body curve ever measured.
Far Infrared
Wavelength of cold interstellar dust (~30 K) — where stars are being born.
Thermal / Mid Infrared
Wien peak at room temperature — everything warm radiates here; thermal cameras listen to this band.
Near Infrared
Silicon's band gap sits here — solar cells and fibre-optic networks are tuned to this band.
Visible — Red
The upper edge of human vision. The Sun's Hα line at 656 nm sits right here.
Visible — Green (Eye's Peak)
Peak sensitivity of daytime vision. The Sun's Wien peak (502 nm at 5772 K) lies almost exactly here — evolution tuned the eye to the Sun.
Visible — Violet
The lower edge of visible light. Hot A-stars like Sirius (≈9940 K) peak near this wavelength.
UV-A
'Black light' — passes through glass, tans the skin, induces fluorescence. Not yet ionising.
UV-C (germicidal)
DNA absorption peaks at 260 nm — low-pressure Hg lamps at 253.7 nm sterilise water and air.
Extreme UV (EUV)
Ionising radiation begins here: E ≥ 10 eV (λ ≤ 124 nm). EUV lithography at 13.5 nm builds modern chips.
Soft X-ray
Hot plasma in galaxy clusters and stellar coronae (~millions K). Observable only from space.
Hard X-ray (1 Å)
A wavelength matching an atomic radius — basis of X-ray crystallography and medical imaging.
Gamma Radiation
The most energetic radiation in the spectrum — from gamma-ray bursts, supernovae and nuclear decays. The highest photons ever measured reach PeV.
What we call 'light' is a tiny slice of the spectrum. Radio, heat, colour, X-rays, gamma — it is always the same thing: an oscillating electromagnetic field. Only the frequency changes.
Computed with exact SI constants: c = 299 792 458 m/s · h = 6.626 070 15 × 10⁻³⁴ J·s · 1 eV = 1.602 176 634 × 10⁻¹⁹ J · Wien b = 2.897 771 955 × 10⁻³ m·K. CMB after COBE/FIRAS (Fixsen 2009). Sun after IAU 2015 B3 (T_eff = 5772 K). Visible band after ICNIRP/CIE. Ionising threshold ≥ 10 eV ≙ λ ≤ 124 nm (FCC).