Spectra were recorded on photographic film on an attached camera. A white light TV system allowed the astronauts to point the spectrometer. The artifact in the collection is a flight instrument intended for a second Skylab. Since then it has since been stored at the Garber Facility. Assembly is mounted on a pair of short stout angled legs at each end fastened to metal plates.
Top surface consists of slightly recessed bare metal sections with surface electrical wiring.
Most of the outer surface is bare metal, with some sections covered in black plasticized cloth material. Ultraviolet spectra of discrete regions in the sun provide information on the states of the hot gases present. This large ultraviolet spectrograph was designed to record spectra from discrete regions of the solar photosphere at great spatial and spectral resolution. The short wavelength range covered the region from 970 to 1970 Angstroms and the long wavelength range went from 1940 to 3940 Angstroms. Incoming light was directed onto a servo-controlled primary mirror that generated an image of the sun on the spectrograph entrance slit.