Absorption lines

A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from an excess or deficiency of photons in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies.Spectral lines are the result of interaction between a quantum system (usually atoms, but sometimes molecules or atomic nuclei) and single photons. When a photon has exactly the right energy to allow a change in the energy state of the system (in the case of an atom this is usually an electron changing orbitals), the photon is absorbed. Then it will be spontaneously re-emitted, either in the same frequency as the original or in a cascade, where the sum of the energies of the photons emitted will be the same as the energy of the one absorbed. The direction of the new photons will not be related to the direction of travel of the original photon.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Black lines corresponding to missing discrete coloured lines in continuous spectra due to light from behind being absorbed by atoms (or molecules). Study of these Fraunhofer (1787-1826) lines is helpful in identifying non-radiating atoms in space, though 15,000 lines have been observed in the Sun. It was unrecognised absorption lines in interstellar spectra that were identified as due to a previously unknown allotrope of carbon. This spherical shell molecule of 60 atoms was named Buckminster Fullerine and later found on Earth.