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6.2.3 The Expanding Universe

The document discusses redshift and the expanding universe. It explains that the Doppler effect causes light from objects moving away to appear redshifted, and more distant galaxies exhibit greater redshifts. This indicates the universe is expanding, as the further away galaxies are moving away faster. Observations of redshift from distant galaxies provide evidence supporting the Big Bang theory of an expanding universe.

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Ishimwe Habiyakare
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46 views3 pages

6.2.3 The Expanding Universe

The document discusses redshift and the expanding universe. It explains that the Doppler effect causes light from objects moving away to appear redshifted, and more distant galaxies exhibit greater redshifts. This indicates the universe is expanding, as the further away galaxies are moving away faster. Observations of redshift from distant galaxies provide evidence supporting the Big Bang theory of an expanding universe.

Uploaded by

Ishimwe Habiyakare
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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6.2.

3 The Expanding Universe


Galaxies & Redshift
 Usually, when an object emits waves, the wavefronts spread out symmetrically
 If the wave source moves, the waves can become squashed together or stretched out

Diagram showing the wavefronts produced from a stationary object and a moving object

 A moving object will cause the wavelength, λ, (and frequency) of the waves to change:
o The wavelength of the waves in front of the source decreases and
the frequency increases
o The wavelength behind the source increases and the frequency decreases
o This effect is known as the Doppler effect

 The Doppler effect also affects light


o If an object moves away from an observer the wavelength of light increases
 This is known as redshift as the light moves towards the red end of the
spectrum

 Redshift is:

An increase in the observed wavelength of electromagnet radiation emitted from receding


stars and galaxies
Light from a star that is moving towards an observer will be blueshifted and light from a star
moving away from an observer will be redshifted

The observer behind observes a red shift

 The Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies that make up the Universe
 Light emitted from distant galaxies appears redshifted when compared with light
emitted on Earth

 The diagram below shows the light coming to us from a close object, such as the Sun,
and the light coming to us from a distant galaxy
Comparing the light spectrum produced from the Sun and a distant galaxy

 The diagram also shows that the light coming to us from distant galaxies is redshifted
o The lines on the spectrum are shifted towards the red end
 This indicates that the galaxies are moving away from us
 If the galaxies are moving away from us it means that the universe is expanding
 The observation of redshift from distant galaxies supports the Big Bang theory

 Another observation from looking at the light spectrums produced from distant galaxies
is that the greater the distance to the galaxy, the greater the redshift
o This means that the further away a galaxy, the faster it is moving away from us

Graph showing the greater the distance to a galaxy, the greater the redshift

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