Question

Light from distant galaxies most likely shows a ...red shift, indicating that the universe is expandingblue shift, indicating that the universe is expandingred shift, indicating that the universe is contracting blue shift, indicating that the universe is contracting

Answer 1

Answer:

red shift, indicating that the universe is expanding

Explanation:

Doppler effect occurs when a source of a wave (e.g. light, or sound waves) moves relative to an observer; as a result of this relative motion, the wavelength of the wave appears lengthened/shortened to the observer. Two situations can occur:

- The source of the wave is moving towards the observer - in this case, the wavelength of the wave becomes shorter. If the wave is visible light, such as the light emitted by distant galaxies, this means that the wavelength of the light shifts towards the blue-end of the spectrum (blue-shift)

- The source of the wave is moving away from the observer - in this case, the wavelength of the wave becomes longer. If the wave is visible light, such as the light emitted by distant galaxies, this means that the wavelength of the light shifts towards the red-end of the spectrum (red-shift)

In our universe, we observe a red-shift for all the distant galaxies: this means that these galaxies are moving away from us, so this is an indication that the universe is expanding.