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<h1 class="nist-page__title">The Twelve Days of Metric</h1>
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<div class="daterange"><time datetime="2022-12-20T12:00:00Z">December 20, 2022</time>
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<span>By: </span>
<a href="/blogs/taking-measure/authors/robin-materese" hreflang="en">Robin Materese</a>
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<figure class="nist-image--lightbox nist-image" data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2022/12/19/12%20days%20of%20metric%20graphic.png?itok=NGVXR0eR" data-media-id="659906">
<img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/960_x_960_limit/public/images/2022/12/19/12%20days%20of%20metric%20graphic.png?itok=4VTrS83u" width="960" height="600" alt="Colorful letters on black background say &quot;12 Days of Metric.&quot;" typeof="foaf:Image" />
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<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
N. Hanacek/NIST
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<p>As we approach the end of 2022, we wanted to share with our readers a NISTified version of a classic seasonal song about a topic that is near and dear to NISTers (and many other scientists) year-round: the wonders of the metric system.</p><p>So without further ado … The Twelve Days of Metric.</p><p><em>On the twelfth day of metric, a NISTer gave to me …</em></p><h2>Twelve weights inspectors</h2><p>What’s a “weights inspector”? We’re glad you asked. They’re actually called weights and measures inspectors, and they make sure you get what you pay for at the pump, in food stores and at countless other locations.&nbsp;</p><p>There are thousands of these individuals throughout the country whose job it is to inspect and test weighing and measuring equipment and prepackaged products. Their work helps ensure that what you pay for — be it milk for your cereal, gasoline (or other fuel) for your car, carpet for your family room, firewood to warm your hearth, meat and vegetables for your dinner, lumber to build your home, bedding for your rabbit or hamster, and even medications to keep you healthy — is actually what you get.&nbsp;</p><p>And NIST helps train those inspectors and provide reference documents that help them do their job.</p>
<figure class=" align-center nist-image--lightbox nist-image" role="group">
<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2022/12/20/DSC_5280-blur.JPG?itok=YxYmrDFr" data-media-id="659926">
<img alt="A man crouches by a pile of firewood indoors, stretching a tape measure vertically." height="2160" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/2022/12/20/DSC_5280-blur.JPG" typeof="foaf:Image" width="3840">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">A state weights and measures inspector calculates firewood volume at a NIST hands-on training seminar.&nbsp;<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
E. Benham/NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You can learn more about what these individuals do in our <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/back-basics-weights-and-measures-week-2018" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="b0e131c9-925f-476b-87c2-8fd45117ec67" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Back to Basics: Weights and Measures Week 2018">2018</a> and <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/charging-ahead-weights-and-measures-week-2020" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="7c81f01b-b238-4b05-a6e7-1fd9b4f42719" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Charging Ahead: Weights and Measures Week 2020">2020</a> blog posts for Weights and Measures Week. (Yup, there’s even a week to celebrate their work!)</p><figure class=" align-center nist-video" role="group">
<div data-media-id="354651">
<div class="video-embed-field"><div class="video-embed-field-lazy" data-video-embed-field-lazy="&lt;div class=&quot;video-embed-field-provider-nist-kaltura video-embed-field-responsive-video&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;854&quot; height=&quot;480&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allow=&quot;autoplay *; fullscreen *; encrypted-media *&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot; src=&quot;https://www.kaltura.com/p/684682/embedPlaykitJs/uiconf_id/55674542?iframeembed=true&amp;amp;entry_id=0_lsev0kwv&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
"><img alt="Get What You Pay For: At the Grocery Store" loading="lazy" src="https://cdnsecakmi.kaltura.com/p/684682/sp/68468200/thumbnail/entry_id/0_lsev0kwv/width/1280" typeof="foaf:Image">
<button class="video-embed-field-lazy-play"></button>
<div class="video-embed-field-lazy-title">Get What You Pay For: At the Grocery Store</div>
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<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">Tina Butcher of NIST explains how weights and measures inspectors calibrate scales at the grocery store.</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Eleven physics interns</h2><p>NIST’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) provides the next generation of scientists an opportunity to see what it means to practice science. And it provides our NIST scientists with an amazing pool of talent that brings fresh energy and insights to our work.&nbsp;</p><p>If you’re curious to hear more from our interns directly, you can see what one of our interns learned about <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/whats-physicist-my-summer-student-intern-nist" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="1a0acf8f-c9b5-453d-adc5-ee0f06103f35" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="What’s a Physicist? My Summer as a Student Intern at NIST ">what it means to be a physicist</a>, hear from an intern who spent her summer <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/working-improve-small-scale-mris-my-summer-surf-student-nist" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="2842e811-99ce-4550-b0d9-70e589836995" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Working to Improve Small-Scale MRIs: My Summer as a SURF Student at NIST">working to improve small-scale MRIs</a>, or learn about what it’s like to spend a summer <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/surfing-susceptometers-skyrmions-making-neutron-maniac" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="dd20277d-2622-4449-8246-cf698a180df7" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="SURFing from Susceptometers to Skyrmions: The Making of a Neutron MANiAC">at the NIST Center for Neutron Research</a>.</p><p>Just to be clear, the SURF program isn’t only for physics interns. It’s for undergraduate students studying in any field that intersects with NIST science. Learn more <a href="/surf" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="7ca722e1-5390-4a64-ac27-00d2d1d81c6e" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)">on our website</a>. (FYI, applications are now open for summer 2023. Spread the word!)</p>
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<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2022/08/31/Valeria.jpg?itok=EVb6iCRi" data-media-id="652606">
<img alt="Woman with long dark hair wearing safety goggle stands in front of a table that has a series of lenses on stands" height="1013" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/2022/08/31/Valeria.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="1805">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">During her NIST internship,&nbsp;Valeria Viteri-Pflucker&nbsp;helped to develop and test a new experimental technique to measure nonlinear optical properties in materials.&nbsp;<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
B. Hayes/NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ten silicon chips</h2><p>Silicon is a type of material known as a semiconductor and is the most commonly used raw material for semiconductor chips. And according to one of our physicists, it’s a serious contender for realizing the true power of quantum computation. (You can read more about that in <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/seeking-power-quantum-computing-silicon" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="3ec5a6a7-ef9c-4c87-bfc2-9e12606d66ef" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Seeking the Power of Quantum Computing in Silicon">this blog post from physicist Josh Pomeroy</a>.) Another good read in this space is a <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/why-nist-putting-its-chips-us-manufacturing" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="186f3e24-4eba-4e15-a9e6-709afb2c4f9a" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Why NIST Is Putting Its CHIPS Into U.S. Manufacturing">recent blog post about semiconductors</a>. You also can quickly refer to the atomic properties of silicon (and other elements) <a href="/pml/periodic-table-elements" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="7be48f09-2eae-4ac8-bfa4-6f9996b46120" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Periodic Table of the Elements">using this guide</a>.</p><p>When it comes to the metric system, though, silicon is perhaps best known for its role in the research that led up to redefining the kilogram and the mole. The <a href="/si-redefinition/kilogram-kibble-balance" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="0a3d327a-501f-4e5a-9690-4c81fbb99ec2" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Kilogram: The Kibble Balance">Kibble balance</a>, an extremely accurate weighing machine, did a lot of the heavy lifting on the redefinition of the kilogram. However, an ultra-pure, almost perfectly round silicon sphere also <a href="/si-redefinition/kilogram-silicon-spheres-and-international-avogadro-project" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="89f30b87-0488-4ad7-8c9b-5a2a141821c5" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Kilogram: Silicon Spheres and the International Avogadro Project">contributed to the determination of the Planck constant</a> that was used to redefine the kilogram. It was also used to help in the redefinition of the mole and the calculation of the <a href="/si-redefinition/meet-constants" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="1de85004-a27c-454f-b7e3-e753e1f798d4" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Meet the Constants">Avogadro constant</a>, which defines the number of particles in a mole. You can read more about its role in <a href="/si-redefinition/redefining-mole" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="8dde2e8d-2800-44b6-afcc-1e5077133a13" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Redefining the Mole">redefining the mole</a> — and the part it played in the <a href="/si-redefinition/kilogram-silicon-spheres-and-international-avogadro-project" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="89f30b87-0488-4ad7-8c9b-5a2a141821c5" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Kilogram: Silicon Spheres and the International Avogadro Project">kilogram redefinition</a> — in the <a href="/si-redefinition" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="469f570f-a53d-4a03-acaf-abe5ddab41a8" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="SI Redefinition">International System of Units (SI) Redefinition section</a> of our website.&nbsp;</p>
<figure class=" align-center nist-image--lightbox nist-image" role="group">
<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2018/05/14/siliconsphere-closeup-800_1.png?itok=dIftYL6o" data-media-id="113581">
<img alt="Silicon Sphere" height="800" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/2018/05/14/siliconsphere-closeup-800_1.png" typeof="foaf:Image" width="800">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">Close-up of a silicon sphere similar to the ones used in Avogadro constant measurements.&nbsp;<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Nine volts through circuits</h2> <figure class=" align-left nist-image" role="group">
<div>
<img alt="NIST Josephson voltage chip" height="360" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_480_limit/public/images/2017/08/09/jvs_chip.jpg?itok=VtxwGqYt" typeof="foaf:Image" width="480">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">A NIST Josephson voltage chip next to a penny.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The volt is the metric unit for electric potential. Josephson junctions, which are devices made from two layers of superconducting materials separated by a layer of atomically thin insulating material, became the authoritative means by which to realize the volt in May 2019.&nbsp;</p><p>NIST makes Josephson junctions that offer accuracies of better than one part per billion and don’t need to ever be calibrated. The standards are used to calibrate voltmeters — devices important to the manufacture of consumer and industrial electronics and even the operation of the electric grid. You can learn more about these devices within the <a href="/noac/technology/current-and-voltage/programmable-josephson-voltage-standards-and-arbitrary-waveform" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="8e819128-08fc-4057-8064-0ec433a000e4" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Programmable Josephson Voltage Standards and Arbitrary Waveform Synthesizers ">NIST on a Chip section of our website</a>.</p><h2>Eight triple point cells</h2>
<figure class=" align-right nist-image--lightbox nist-image" role="group">
<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2018/05/15/triple-point-cell.jpg?itok=7ST85xE2" data-media-id="341081">
<img alt="triple point cell" height="480" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_480_limit/public/images/2018/05/15/triple-point-cell.jpg?itok=gr1tZQ27" typeof="foaf:Image" width="321">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">A triple-point cell.<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2019, the international scientific community redefined multiple SI units, including the kelvin, which is a measure of temperature frequently used in science (though admittedly not a temperature scale we use in daily life).&nbsp;</p><p>We could get technical here and throw out some big numbers and equations, but we’re going to keep it much simpler. As of May 2019, scientists started defining the kelvin in terms of a fundamental quantity in nature known as the Boltzmann constant. Before that, the kelvin was defined based on the triple point of water. Though that method no longer defines the kelvin, it remains a convenient and practical way to calibrate thermometers. This is accomplished with a <a href="/video/triple-point-cell" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="1902fc5b-dd84-477e-9592-233775cd51b2" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Triple-Point Cell">triple-point cell</a>, which consists of a pressure-sealed glass cylinder nearly filled with water. You can learn more about the kelvin and triple point cells in the <a href="/si-redefinition" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="469f570f-a53d-4a03-acaf-abe5ddab41a8" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="SI Redefinition">SI Redefinition section</a> of our website.</p><h2>Seven extra seconds</h2><p>OK, we can’t really give you more time, but we can talk about the second. One of the big news stories this year was about the international scientific community taking a vote to start planning how we can do away with the leap second.&nbsp;</p><p>Two other hot topics in the “time” space this year:</p><ul><li>On June 29, the Earth recorded its shortest day since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure its rotational speed. Earth completed its rotation 1.59 milliseconds shy of the 24 hours of time measured by atomic clocks. <a href="/news-events/news/2022/08/spotlight-keeping-time-earths-rotation" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="6921af1d-7291-4643-bf0b-e58d55515d50" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Spotlight: Keeping Time With the Earth’s Rotation">Learn more about our shortest day</a>.</li><li>The second is undergoing a redefinition. This international scientific endeavor is ongoing, and we’ll have more about that in our blog in 2023. In the meantime, you can learn more about the history of the second and how it’s defined in the <a href="/si-redefinition" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="469f570f-a53d-4a03-acaf-abe5ddab41a8" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="SI Redefinition">SI Redefinition section</a> of the website.</li></ul>
<figure class=" align-center nist-image--lightbox nist-image" role="group">
<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2016/12/27/f2_atomic_clock.jpg?itok=QVOimxPD" data-media-id="290041">
<img alt="NIST physicists Steve Jefferts and Tom Heavner with the NIST-F2 cesium fountain atommic clock" height="857" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/2016/12/27/f2_atomic_clock.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="1200">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">NIST physicists Steve Jefferts (foreground) and Tom Heavner with the NIST-F2 cesium fountain atomic clock, a civilian time standard for the United States.<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Six tapes for meas’ring</h2><p>There’s nothing quite as NISTy as a tape measure. Did you know that we calibrate them in a 60-meter-long NIST tape tunnel? I could write more about it here, but I think this video does a better job at the “show and tell” of the tunnel:</p><figure class=" align-center nist-video" role="group">
<div data-media-id="376021">
<div class="video-embed-field"><div class="video-embed-field-lazy" data-video-embed-field-lazy="&lt;div class=&quot;video-embed-field-provider-nist-kaltura video-embed-field-responsive-video&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;854&quot; height=&quot;480&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allow=&quot;autoplay *; fullscreen *; encrypted-media *&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot; src=&quot;https://www.kaltura.com/p/684682/embedPlaykitJs/uiconf_id/55674542?iframeembed=true&amp;amp;entry_id=1_9u6pnje8&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
"><img alt="How It’s Measured: Calibrating Tape Measures" loading="lazy" src="https://cdnsecakmi.kaltura.com/p/684682/sp/68468200/thumbnail/entry_id/1_9u6pnje8/width/1280" typeof="foaf:Image">
<button class="video-embed-field-lazy-play"></button>
<div class="video-embed-field-lazy-title">How It’s Measured: Calibrating Tape Measures</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">Inside a 60-meter-long underground tunnel, measurement scientists check the accuracy of tape measures.</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Five proving rings</h2><p>Nope, these rings aren’t golden. But they are important to scientists.</p><p>A proving ring is a device used to measure force. It consists of an elastic ring of known diameter with a measuring device in the center of the ring. It was developed by H.L. Whittemore and S.N. Petrenko of the National Bureau of Standards, the precursor of NIST, in 1927, and is still used today. You can <a href="/pml/quantum-measurement/mass-and-force/proving-ring" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="214fa7a9-60ce-4a99-8312-b80181c61b92" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="The Proving Ring">learn more about the proving ring</a> on our website.</p> <figure class=" align-center nist-image" role="group">
<div>
<img alt="Man looks through center of proving ring" height="1873" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/photogallery/metrology_basic_units_force_proving_ring_ho.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="1800">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">NIST force measurements are critical for accurately determining the power of internal combustion engines, the thrust of jet engines, and the strength of materials and structures.<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
Photo by Barry Gardner
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Four new prefixes</h2><p>In case you didn’t hear, we have four new metric prefixes to help us measure REALLY BIG and really small things:</p><ul><li>Ronna (R) refers to the use of 27 zeros after a first digit — or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.</li><li>Quetta (Q) equals 30 zeros.</li><li>Ronto (r) is the inverse of ronna, making it 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001. (We've added spaces between the zeros to make it easier to read, per NIST’s <a href="/pml/special-publication-811" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="33bb8bd3-1bd3-4c18-bc90-a0b8fa515389" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Special Publication 811">SP 811 publication</a>.)</li><li>Quecto (q) is the inverse of quetta.</li></ul><h2>Three kilograms</h2><p>Yes, even with the <a href="/news-events/news/2018/11/historic-vote-ties-kilogram-and-other-units-natural-constants" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="b9af3846-1126-4de4-89e8-ca7ccf5c8488" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Historic Vote Ties Kilogram and Other Units to Natural Constants&nbsp;">redefinition of the kilogram</a> so that it’s based on a constant versus a physical object, kilograms themselves are still useful and being used.</p><p>If that’s the case, you may be wondering why we even bothered with the redefinition. The big advantage is that the new definition provides us with the capability to more accurately scale measurements from the quantum level to the massive sizes of galaxies. This is especially important to pharmaceutical companies that now have a measurement unit that is smoothly scalable down to the level they need for better drug design and study, with far less uncertainty.</p><p>The redefinition was a pretty big deal a few years ago. So much so, that multiple NIST scientists talked about it in our blog. So if you’re interested, you can read about <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/massive-bet-planck-napkin" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="695a31f9-a307-451c-ac47-fe3d6e072fcc" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="A Massive Bet: The Planck Napkin">some scientists’ “betting” about the outcomes</a>, <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/all-times-all-peoples-how-replacing-kilogram-empowers-industry" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="0d660c87-95d2-4db1-a862-02a9e71510f2" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="For All Times, For All Peoples: How Replacing the Kilogram Empowers Industry">how the redefinition helps industry</a>, and one scientist’s <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/reason-and-measurement-suits-and-ties-my-personal-journey-new-si" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="673f11c9-fec4-4873-961e-9aad6b51a540" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Reason and Measurement, Suits and Ties: My Personal Journey to the New SI">personal journey with the SI redefinition</a>.</p><p>(Oh, and to my brother-in-law who keeps telling me the “no longer needed kilogram” would make a great holiday present … sorry. I won’t be able to make that happen.)</p>
<figure class=" align-center nist-image--lightbox nist-image" role="group">
<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2023/02/23/kg-on-table-2.jpg?itok=NBAfeT-Y" data-media-id="450936">
<img alt="kilograms under glass jars" height="3944" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/2023/02/23/kg-on-table-2.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="6000">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">NIST's platinum-iridium kilogram K92 (front) with stainless-steel kilogram masses in the background.<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
J.L. Lee/NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Two spectrographs</h2><p>We all know that space = cool, right? So we had to include an item that speaks to NIST’s work in the cosmos.&nbsp;</p><p>A spectrograph separates incoming light by its wavelength or frequency and then works with another instrument to analyze the resulting spectrum. A few years ago, NIST built a <a href="/news-events/news/2019/02/nist-astrocomb-opens-new-horizons-planet-hunting-telescope" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="4b26ab8b-2f0e-424a-aab9-a6ff95a31fa0" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="NIST ‘Astrocomb’ Opens New Horizons for Planet-Hunting Telescope">custom-made frequency comb</a> to help a spectrograph precisely analyze starlight at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas. Our comb can help the spectrograph pick up very faint infrared light from faraway star systems at specific wavelengths that can be the signatures of a planet’s atmosphere.</p><p>That’s because a <a href="/topics/physics/optical-frequency-combs" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="d0f3e23a-9ded-41b4-b75e-df0223888093" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Optical Frequency Combs">frequency comb</a> contains “teeth” that act like ticks on a ruler that could help measure the wavelengths of this light very precisely. If you imagine light as a wave of equally spaced peaks and valleys, an infrared wavelength of 800 nanometers means that the distance between successive peaks of the wave is 800 billionths of a meter. Our combs help measure these tiny wavelengths accurately.</p><p>To read more about NIST’s cosmos-gazing contributions, check out the <a href="/measuring-cosmos" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="0bbda15b-2b38-4916-8c56-a8c94993c566" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Measuring The Cosmos">Measuring the Cosmos section of our website</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>(For the record, we considered gifting frequency combs instead of the spectrographs on the second day of metric — because let’s face it, frequency combs are definitely NISTier — but the meter pattern didn’t work.)</p>
<figure class=" align-center nist-image--lightbox nist-image" role="group">
<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2019/02/19/19pml002_astrocomb2.jpg?itok=7gMBb-aM" data-media-id="484491">
<img alt="Man in goggles standing next to and looking into a large box with open lid showing what appears to be electrical equipment and wiring inside" height="1202" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/2019/02/19/19pml002_astrocomb2.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="1800">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">NIST Physicist Scott Diddams views the NIST frequency comb designed to ensure the precision of starlight analysis at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas.<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>And some cesium to trap and freeze</h2><p>Why cesium? Because cesium is the atom used in the atomic clock that serves as the civilian time standard for the U.S. The clock uses a “fountain” of these atoms to determine the exact duration of a second, which means the cesium atom serves as the basis for the current definition of the second. (And yes, we know that’s going to change. See the section above about the current redefinition efforts. But that’s all the more reason to celebrate cesium while it still reigns supreme.)</p><p>You can read up about the <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/keeping-time-nist" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="aef03aff-1c79-4e36-8794-3485c8ae6d7f" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Keeping Time at NIST">history of timekeeping in this blog post</a> and learn more about how we measure time in this <a href="/how-do-you-measure-it/how-do-you-measure-second" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="fd8ab91e-28c4-4290-b7aa-81dd791e3575" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="How Do You Measure a Second?">How Do You Measure It? piece</a>.</p>
<figure class=" align-center nist-image--lightbox nist-image" role="group">
<div data-lightbox="https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/styles/2800_x_2800_limit/public/images/2022/12/19/P1420952.jpg?itok=E83gOtVe" data-media-id="659911">
<img alt="A man wearing latex gloves reaches out to adjust something on a cylindrical metal scientific device." height="2592" loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/images/2022/12/19/P1420952.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="4608">
</div>
<figcaption class="nist-image__caption">Vladislav Gerginov makes final adjustments on the new microwave cavity, the “heart” of NIST’s new fountain clock NIST F4. This copper cavity is where microwaves interact with the cesium atoms, causing them to change state and defining the second. Once completed, scientists hope to use NIST F4 as the new reference standard for the second. &nbsp;<div class="nist-image__credit">
<span class="nist-image__credit-label">Credit:</span>
R. Jacobson/NIST
</div></figcaption>
</figure>
<div class="nist-callout"><p><em>Thanks to NISTer Riley Wilson for coming up with our metric gifts for each of the 12 days.</em></p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div
class="nist-block"
>
<div class="nist-tags">
<a href="/blogs/taking-measure/categories/248866">Manufacturing</a>,
<a href="/blogs/taking-measure/categories/249051">Metrology</a>,
<a href="/blogs/taking-measure/categories/2746606">Metric</a>,
<a href="/blogs/taking-measure/categories/249126">Nanotechnology</a> and
<a href="/blogs/taking-measure/categories/249241">Physics</a></div>
</div>
<div
class="nist-block"
>
<h2
class="nist-block__title"
>About the author</h2>
<div class="nist-field nist-field--label-hidden entity-reference">
<div class="nist-field__items">
<div class="nist-field__item">
<article
about="/blogs/taking-measure/authors/robin-materese" class="nist-teaser"
>
<div class="nist-teaser__image">
<div class="entity-reference"> <a href="/blogs/taking-measure/authors/robin-materese" hreflang="en"><img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/images/2023/12/05/robin_headshot_112823.jpg?itok=FJEwX_82" width="75" height="100" alt="Robin Materese poses outdoors with her dog for a casual headshot. " typeof="foaf:Image" />
</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="nist-teaser__content-wrapper">
<header>
<h3 class="nist-teaser__title"><a href="/blogs/taking-measure/authors/robin-materese"><span>Robin Materese</span>
</a></h3>
</header>
<div class="nist-teaser__content">
<div class="text-with-summary"><p>Robin Materese is the director of web content at NIST. An aspiring journalist in college, she fell into science communications when she took a job promoting general interest science books at the National Academy of Sciences. She has also worked for a literary agency, a small PR firm, Choice Hotels, Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health. She has published three short stories in literary journals and anthologies and had a 10-minute play she wrote performed at the Source Theater in Washington, D.C. She lives in Maryland along with her husband, daughter, three dogs and two lizards.</p></div>
</div>
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</article>
</div>
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<div
class="views-element-container nist-block no-print"
>
<h2
class="nist-block__title"
>Related posts</h2>
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about="/blogs/taking-measure/high-flying-science-how-and-why-we-sent-refrigerator-halfway-space" class="nist-teaser"
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<div class="text-with-summary"> NIST-developed tools can study the remnants of the Big Bang and more, and now researchers are working to launch these tools high above the Earth’s atmosphere —
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<h3 class="nist-teaser__title"><a href="/blogs/taking-measure/5-concepts-can-help-you-understand-quantum-mechanics-and-technology-without"><span>5 Concepts Can Help You Understand Quantum Mechanics and Technology — Without Math!</span>
</a></h3>
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<div class="daterange"><time datetime="2025-02-05T12:00:00Z">February 5, 2025</time>
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<div class="text-with-summary"> Quantum is everywhere, and you can understand the basic quirks of life at the quantum level … no math required.
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<h3 class="nist-teaser__title"><a href="/blogs/taking-measure/safer-skies-fewer-fires-10-ways-nist-impacts-your-daily-life"><span>From Safer Skies to Fewer Fires: 10 Ways NIST Impacts Your Daily Life</span>
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<div class="daterange"><time datetime="2024-12-19T12:00:00Z">December 19, 2024</time>
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<div class="text-with-summary"> If you’ve ever had a medical test, flown on an airplane, or needed to check the time, NIST’s work affects your life every day.
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<p class="submitted">
<span class="nist-comment__author"><span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Alcir Vogel</span></span>
on
<span class="nist-comment__date">December 21, 2022 12:44 AM</span>
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<div class="text-long"><p>Strongly advanced in Quantum Science &amp; A.I. T.I.</p>
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<p class="submitted">
<span class="nist-comment__author"><span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Kenneth J Vehrkens</span></span>
on
<span class="nist-comment__date">December 21, 2022 9:33 AM</span>
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<div class="text-long"><p>I enjoyed this. Thank you... Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!!</p>
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<span class="nist-comment__author"><span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Lisa-Anne Franke</span></span>
on
<span class="nist-comment__date">December 25, 2022 12:08 AM</span>
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<div class="text-long"><p>🤣Love it! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!! 🎄♥️🎄</p>
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