Tags: atoms, spectral lines
Categories: Comparisons
An example of a metaphor in popular science writing:
"…neutral [atomic] hydrogen gas…generates a prominent spectral line at wavelength of 21 cm. 'Spectral lines' are characteristic signatures produced by different types of atom…"
Andrew May
May, A. (2019). Astrobiology. The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe. Icon Books Ltd.
Arguably this use of 'signature' his so widespread this might be considered a 'dead metaphor'.