The cyclotron makes use of the circular orbits that charged particles exhibit in a uniform magnetic field.
Furthermore, the period of the orbit is independent of the energy of the particles, allowing the cyclotron to operate at a set frequency.
Cyclotron radiation from plasma in the interstellar medium or around black holes and other astronomical phenomena is an important source of information about distant magnetic fields.
[verification needed] Cyclotron radiation has a spectrum with its main spike at the same fundamental frequency as the particle's orbit, and harmonics at higher integral factors.
Harmonics are the result of imperfections in the actual emission environment, which also create a broadening of the spectral lines.