THE DOPPLER EFFECT

How does the Doppler Effect work? If the source of radiation, say a star, is moving toward an
astronomer on Earth (for example), then the wavelength of its radiation will appear shorter
(higher frequency, and therefore higher energy). On the other hand, if the object is moving away
from the observer then the wavelength will appear longer (lower frequency, and lower energy).
You have probably experienced a version of the effect when you heard a train whistle or a police
siren as it moved past you, changing pitch as it passes by you and moves away.
The Doppler effect is behind such technologies as police radar, where the "radar gun" emits light
of a known wavelength. Then, that radar "light" bounces off a moving car and travels back to the
instrument. The resulting shift in wavelength is used to calculate the speed of the vehicle. (Note:
it is actually a double shift as the moving car first acts as the observer and experiences a shift,
then as a moving source sending the light back to the office, thereby shifting the wavelength a
second time.)
Redshift
When an object is receding (i.e. moving away) from an observer, the peaks of the radiation that
are emitted will be spaced farther apart than they would be if the source object were stationary.
The result is that the resulting wavelength of light appears longer. Astronomers say that it is
"shifted to the red" end of the spectrum.
The same effect applies to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as radio, x-ray or
gamma-rays. However, optical measurements are the most common and are the source of the
term "redshift". The more quickly the source moves away from the observer, the greater the
redshift. From an energy standpoint, longer wavelengths correspond to lower energy radiation.
Blueshift
Conversely, when a source of radiation is approaching an observer the wavelengths of light
appear closer together, effectively shortening the wavelength of light. (Again, shorter wavelength
means higher frequency and therefore higher energy.) Spectroscopically, the emission lines
would appear shifted toward the blue side of the optical spectrum, hence the name blueshift.
As with redshift, the effect is applicable to other bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, but the
effect is most often times discussed when dealing with optical light, though in some fields of
astronomy this is certainly not the case. Redshift indicates that an object is moving away from
us. "Blueshift" is a term that astronomers use to describe an object that is moving toward another
object or toward us. Someone will say, "That galaxy is blueshifted with respect to the Milky
Way", for example. It means that the galaxy is moving toward our point in space. It can also be
used to describe the speed the galaxy is taking as it gets closer to ours. Both redshift and
blueshift are determined by studying the spectrum of light radiated from the object.
The term "blueshift" refers to the shift in wavelengths of light toward the blue end of the
spectrum as an object moves toward us in space. Astronomers use blueshift to understand
motions of galaxies toward each other and toward our region of space.

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Redshift applies to the spectrum of light from galaxies that are moving away from us; that is,
their light is shifted toward the red end of the spectrum.
Blueshift is a direct result of a property of an object's motion called the Doppler effect, though
there are other phenomena that can also result in light becoming blueshifted. Here's how it
works. Let's take that galaxy as an example again. It is emitting radiation in the form of light, x-
rays, ultraviolet, infrared, radio, visible light, and so forth. As it approaches an observer in our
galaxy, each photon (packet of light) that it emits appears to be produced closer in time to the
previous photon. This is due to the Doppler effect and the galaxy's proper motion (its motion
through space). The result is that the photon peaks appear to be closer together than they actually
are, making the wavelength of light shorter (higher frequency, and therefore higher energy), as
determined by the observer. Blueshift is not something that can be seen with the eye. It is a
property of how light is affected by an object's motion. Astronomers determine blueshift by
measuring tiny shifts in the wavelengths of light from the object. They do this with an instrument
that splits the light into its component wavelengths. Normally this is done with a "spectrometer"
or another instrument called a "spectrograph". The data they gather are graphed into what's
called a "spectrum." If the light information tells us that the object is moving toward us, the
graph will appear "shifted" toward the blue end of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Expansion of the Universe and the Doppler Shift

Use of the Doppler Shift has resulted in some important discoveries in astronomy. In the early
1900s, it was believed that the universe was static. In fact, this led Albert Einstein to add the
cosmological constant to his famous field equation in order to "cancel out" the expansion (or
contraction) that was predicted by his calculation. Specifically, it was once believed that the
"edge" of the Milky Way represented the boundary of the static universe.
Then, Edwin Hubble found that the so-called "spiral nebulae" that had plagued astronomy for
decades were not nebulae at all. They were actually other galaxies. It was an amazing discovery
and told astronomers that the universe is much larger than they knew.Hubble then proceeded to
measure the Doppler shift, specifically finding the redshift of these galaxies. He found that that
the farther away a galaxy is, the more quickly it recedes. This led to the now-famous Hubble's
Law, which says that an object's distance is proportional to its speed of recession.
This revelation led Einstein to write that his addition of the cosmological constant to the field
equation was the greatest blunder of his career. Interestingly, however, some researchers are now
placing the constant back into general relativity.
As it turns out Hubble's Law is only true up to a point since research over the last couple of
decades has found that distant galaxies are receding more quickly than predicted. This implies
that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. The reason for that is a mystery, and scientists
have dubbed the driving force of this acceleration dark energy. They account for it in the
Einstein field equation as a cosmological constant (though it is of a different form than Einstein's
formulation).