Science is for Winners x 2

Next in our lineup of Scientist Trading Cards is one Mr. Christian Doppler, who was the first to observe and explain... the Doppler effect. Yeah, this is that thing where a sound's pitch changes as it approaches and then moves away from you, like an ambulance driving by. What I find particularly interesting is when it is applied to light waves emitted by celestial objects like stars and galaxies. We can observe their light waves being shifted to either end of the electromagnetic spectrum. When it is shifted toward the red (longer wavelength) end of the ES, we have redshift, which means that the object emitting light is moving away from us, the observer. Blue shift occurs when emitted light is shifted toward the blue (shorter wavelength) side of the spectrum, and means the object is moving toward us. So basically, by analyzing the light that comes from a star or galaxy, we can tell whether it is moving toward or away from us. Thanks, Doppler!


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