Skip to main content
redshift

redshift

4 8.6
Light from distant galaxies that looks more red because they are moving away
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛdʃɪft/
  • Specialized
translation icon : corrimiento al rojo
  • Ever since the 1970s, some observations have suggested that redshifts do not behave as Doppler shifts should.
  • redshifts of galaxies
  • redshift of the quasar
  • high redshift

And most importantly, you do not need further redshift to explain the observations.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The patterns emerged when the redshifts were measured relative to the center of our galaxy.

    Academic text (1995)
  • But studies that I conducted indicated the redshift did not follow this rule.

    Academic text (1995)
  • And one way to think about what the redshift is is the following.

  • And the further distant you look, the more redshift the light will be.

  • And most importantly, you do not need further redshift to explain the observations.

  • The most famous of these is the redshift of light from cosmological sources.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The amount of this redshift increases with distance, according to the well-established Hubble's law.

    Academic text (1995)
  • The second major event was the discovery of a mathematical equation that describes redshift periodicities accurately.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Towards still earlier times (higher redshift), the SFR either declines slowly or stays constant.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Astronomers observe a large redshift in the light from distant galaxies, indicating that they are moving away from us.

Synonyms

red shift
vsredshift
  • Specialized
2 7.2

Light from distant galaxies moves toward red light, showing they move away

is the same concept but written as two separate words

How Shifted

redshift
  • Specialized
4 8.6
Doppler shift
  • Specialized
1 6.5

Surface Forms

redshift singular
redshifts plural

Morphology

redshift = red + shift (semi-transparent) = red + shift

The components 'red' and 'shift' transparently indicate a movement toward the red part of the spectrum, but the full technical meaning (wavelength displacement due to Doppler/cosmological effects) requires specialized knowledge.

Etymology

Redshift combines red and shift: red points to the 'red' end of visible light, and shift means 'move'. So when light from a distant star or galaxy looks more red than usual, it has 'shifted' toward longer waves, which tells us the object is moving away and the universe is getting bigger.