red shift

Scientific  

1. See under Doppler effect

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red shift Cultural  

1. In physics, the reddening of light sent out by an object that is moving away from an observer. (See Doppler effect.)

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The red shift that can be observed in light from distant galaxies suggests that the universe is expanding, and thus supports the Big Bang theory.

Example Sentences

The red shift indicates a change in the electronic structure or optical properties of the material.

From Science Daily • May 3, 2024

Double the distance, and the red shift is doubled.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

As galaxies move away from us, their light is shifted to a lower frequency, and so to a longer wavelength—the so-called red shift.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The red shift is a consequence of the Doppler effect.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

This suggested that the red shift was instead caused by the expansion of the universe, which, in turn, meant that the object was a very long distance away.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking