<P> A chromophore is the part of a molecule responsible for its color . The color that is seen by our eyes is the one not absorbed within a certain wavelength spectrum of visible light . The chromophore is a region in the molecule where the energy difference between two separate molecular orbitals falls within the range of the visible spectrum . Visible light that hits the chromophore can thus be absorbed by exciting an electron from its ground state into an excited state . </P> <P> In biological molecules that serve to capture or detect light energy, the chromophore is the moiety that causes a conformational change of the molecule when hit by light . </P>

Structural feature that is responsible for absorbing visible light