red shift

red shift

n.

An increase in the wavelength of radiation emitted by a celestial body as a consequence of the Doppler effect.

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[From the fact that the longer wavelengths of light are at the red end of the visible spectrum.]

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red shift

Noun

the appearance of lines in the spectrum of distant stars nearer the red end of the spectrum than on earth: used to calculate the velocity of objects in relation to the earth

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red shift

See under Doppler effect.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

red shift - (astronomy) a shift in the spectra of very distant galaxies toward longer wavelengths (toward the red end of the spectrum); generally interpreted as evidence that the universe is expanding redshift astronomy, uranology - the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole propagation - the movement of a wave through a medium