Gravitational redshift

by: Arthur Eisenkraft and Larry D. Kirkpatrick

Edwin Hubble showed that most stars (and galaxies) are receding from Earth. Because of the expansion, the frequencies of the spectral lines from the stars are shifted to lower values—that is, the light is redshifted. However, this is not the only redshift that occurs. A photon leaving a star is also redshifted as it rises in the gravitational field of the star. The gravitational redshift for our sun is too small to be detected accurately, but the redshifts of photons leaving white dwarfs can be measured and are equivalent to the redshifts. This chapter presents a combination of the effects of these two types of redshift.

Details

Type Book ChapterPub Date 1/1/2006Stock # PB198X_26

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