The displacement of spectral lines towards longer wavelengths (the red end of the spectrum) in radiation from distant galaxies and celestial objects. This is interpreted as a Doppler shift that is proportional to the velocity of recession and thus to distance.
Compare with blue shift
Example sentencesExamples
- Does a red shift really mean an expanding universe?
- Most cosmologists - with the interesting exception of Hubble himself - came to the immediate conclusion that the red shift could only mean that the universe was expanding.
- This effect is known as the gravitational red shift.
- In 1929 Edwin Hubble's systematic observations of other galaxies confirmed the red shift.
- This red shift should result in different relative emissions at different wavelengths.