Lyman-alpha forest

In astronomical spectroscopy, the Lyman-alpha forest is a series of absorption lines in the spectra of distant galaxies and quasars arising from the Lyman-alpha electron transition of the neutral hydrogen atom. As the light travels through multiple gas clouds with different redshifts, multiple sets of absorption lines are formed.

The "forest" of absorption lines appears as a result of the wide frequency range at which quasars emit on the electromagnetic spectrum.

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