5.8 Red Shift
|
|
The best theory for explaining how the universe came about is the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory states that all of the matter in the universe was concentrated in a single point. Then there was a hot explosion and ever since then space has been constantly expanding and is still expanding today. This happened around 13.7 billion years ago. Red shift supports the idea that the universe is continuing to expand.
Red shift is similar to the Doppler affect. When an object that emits light is moving further away from the observer of that light, the light will appear to move slightly towards the red end of the spectrum. This is because the light waves are hitting the observer less frequently because the object is moving further away. Red light has the lowest frequency of all visible light and the seemingly lower observed frequency of light moves slightly towards the colour red. We know this because different elements should emit different frequencies of light. When we look at light from distant galaxies, we observe these light frequencies at slightly lower frequencies than what they should be. This can be explained by red shift and galaxies moving further away from each other, and provides support for the Big Bang Theory.
The faster that an object is moving away, the greater the red shift will be. If an object was moving closer to the observer, then we would we observe the opposite and the light would move towards the other end of the light spectrum. However, we have not observed this anywhere, hence why scientists agree with the Big Bang Theory and an ever expanding universe.
Red shift is similar to the Doppler affect. When an object that emits light is moving further away from the observer of that light, the light will appear to move slightly towards the red end of the spectrum. This is because the light waves are hitting the observer less frequently because the object is moving further away. Red light has the lowest frequency of all visible light and the seemingly lower observed frequency of light moves slightly towards the colour red. We know this because different elements should emit different frequencies of light. When we look at light from distant galaxies, we observe these light frequencies at slightly lower frequencies than what they should be. This can be explained by red shift and galaxies moving further away from each other, and provides support for the Big Bang Theory.
The faster that an object is moving away, the greater the red shift will be. If an object was moving closer to the observer, then we would we observe the opposite and the light would move towards the other end of the light spectrum. However, we have not observed this anywhere, hence why scientists agree with the Big Bang Theory and an ever expanding universe.
CMBR
The Big Bang Theory is the only theory that is able to explain the existence of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR). CMBR is a form of electromagnetic radiation filling the universe. It comes from radiation that was present shortly after the beginning of the universe.
The Big Bang Theory is the only theory that is able to explain the existence of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR). CMBR is a form of electromagnetic radiation filling the universe. It comes from radiation that was present shortly after the beginning of the universe.