Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains the Electromagnetic Spectrum

What are the different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum? On this explainer, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice break down visible light, the different wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum, and the discoveries that uncovered it.

Neil explains a revelation he had about potatoes and how its sort of like the electromagnetic spectrum. Is everything light? We discuss how ultraviolet got its name, what frequency means, and how sunscreen works. Is there anything beyond gamma rays? How long is a microwave? How did we used to think about the light spectrum? Learn about William Herschel and his discovery of infrared light in 1800. How did he do it before detection technology? We explore all that starting from…potatoes?

FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:

About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

#StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson

0:00 - Introduction
2:16 - Different Forms Of Light
3:16 - Ultraviolet Light
4:50 - X-Rays
5:56 - Gamma Rays
7:01 - Infrared
8:06 - Microwaves
8:38 - Radiowaves
9:54 - The Invisible Electromagnetic Spectrum
10:21 - How William Herschel Discovered Infrared Light
12:24 - The Electromagnetic Spectrum
13:18 - Closing Notes

[StarTalk]

What mysteries lie in the undiscovered wavelengths of light?

[RohanKSharma]

Man he makes me want to go back to books! I wish I had a physics teacher like him😞

[JJs_playground]

Wow, that William Hershel story was incredible. That he thought to measure the temperature of light and then determine there was infrared because the test thermometer was hotter.

[beau-urns]

As a geographer/spatial analysist
who uses remotely sensed data, I LOVE that you are teaching people this

[sapelesteve]

Gotta love how Neil always sheds so much light on any subject! Great video! 👍👍💥💥

[xTygrs]

I thought I understood how light works and I’ve seen multiple videos like this explaining light and stuff, yet when he described it as packing more energy into a smaller space, it blew my mind and gave me a new understanding. Thank you Dr. Tyson

[Quxer]

Even though I know some of things, I still love to watch explainer videos. Perfect combination of science, knowlegde, fun and Chuck make me smile and little smarter.

[MrGeniusboy]

Dr. Tyson... You keep the baton of reason, science and logic high. Hats off sir.

[cristinal]

This was so incredibly helpful and well-said. I hadn't even realized how fascinating this topic was until NGT taught me about it. Your passion and genuine enjoyment in teaching us is something I will never take for granted. I truly value this channel, and you only make me thirst for more.

I have the utmost respect for you both. Chuck, thank you so much for your jokes and humor. Information can get dense on here, so sometimes light banter really helps give the brain a quick reset. I also really really appreciate when you ask questions. As non-experts in the field, sometimes *we* the audience want to ask questions! It's like you're our voice haha. Thank you for letting our voices be heard!! You are our representative and i love it!! XD

Thank you both again. Thank you to y'all and anyone behind the scenes. Amazing job once again.

[charliesta.abc]

Please create a series with 1million episodes. It breaks my heart that these videos end and I have to wait.

Thanks for the lessons Dr

[aliarsal]

Loved the selection of your analogy. These analogies help me alot to understand such beauties of nature.

[pradyumnsoni]

One of the best explainers! So enlightening!

[galantonp]

Hi Niel & Chuck, I love your show! Thank you for everything you do to promote science education.

I have a question, perhaps a topic for another explainer: what is frequency/wavelength at the fundamental level? When we see light represented, it's always like a bad chart without labels on the axes. What does that wavy line represent? Is it a trajectory? The frequency of arrival of photons at the detector? The variation of some quantum property? And does this have any connection with the polarization of light?

[sjsasii]

There is no more words, , ,

I just learned about the light
Never been before any platform of social media, ,
What a great explanation, ,
Thank you once again DR Tyson
And chuck

[knowmankind]

I know for UV light, if it is generated with a LED, it's almost invisible. The same thing happens with an Infrared LED. I love your guys show.

[kris.andrews]

One interesting thing for a show along these lines could be about the terahertz gap, I understand we don’t have practical transmitters and receivers for these frequencies but they might be useful for some purposes. Love the show!

[susanrosegale]

I did not know that!! "We are practically blind...it is one happy family of electromagnetic spectrum." Let there be light...it does travel through space, like no other. Neil and Chuck, this was really good. More please! The Universe has your back my friends.

[PrimarilyAW]

Didn't realize that "Radio" Waves were a form of light...🤯

[iamchrisdammit]

Hello Dr. Tyson. I was thinking about 2d, 3d and 4d. In a 2d plain, a person cant see the 3rd dimension or above. Can it be possible that electrons leave the 3rd dimension over to the 4th? Since we cant see the 4th dimension itll be no different than than a 2d plain person watching the 3d person leave and comeback. Thoughts? Or did i get my question all wrong?

[josepht]

I need to watch this video again because I missed everything after this man said “microwaves are short radio waves, micro-waves” 🤯🤯 thank you sir. As always I am learning new information watching u.