Similarly, red shift of 20 means, 21 times smaller than now. Red shift of 1,100 means that the universe was 1,101 times smaller than now.Astronomers use redshift and blueshift to deduce how far an object is away from Earth, the concept is key to charting the universe’s expansion.When an object is moving away from us, the light from the object is known as redshift, and when an object is moving towards us, the light from the object is known as.They describe the change in the frequency of a light wave depending on whether an object is moving towards or away from us.That is how the planetary nebula (catalogued NGC 3132), which is about 2,500 light years away was seen. Unlike other telescopes, the Webb has the capability to penetrate dust clouds and look at newly forming stars.Till now it has taken IR of5 microns (wavelength) so far,īut it is designed to go up to 28 microns. Webb is designed to sense IR, which means it can receive radiation from galaxies that have moved very far.IMPORTANT: Remember you are looking to see which direction the stripes on the star have shifted.NASA’s release of five images from the early work of the James Webb Space Telescope grist for further research and Astrophysicist Dipankar Bhattacharya glimpse the origins of life through the ‘eyes’ of the James Webb. Make sure you line the bottom of your element up with this dotted line before you decide on which shift has occurred. To make the comparison easier, a dotted line has been drawn under each star's emission spectrum. whether the star is moving away from the Earth or towards the Earth.whether the emission spectrum has been red shifted or blue shifted.In the activity below each star has an emission spectrum for only one element. Because the star is coming closer the waves get squished closer together. Remember that blue shift occurs when a star moves towards the Earth. Because the color blue is located near the bottom, we call this blue shift. Notice that the hydrogen stripes have shifted down just a little bit towards the bottom. The picture on the right shows a shift in the other direction.

Because the star is moving away the waves get stretched further apart. Remember that red shift occurs when a star moves away from the Earth. Because the color red is located near the top, we call this red shift They have just shifted up towards the top a little bit. Notice that it still has all of the color bands that are associated with hydrogen. The stripes on the first band show light that has been red shifted. The stripes on the second band show the regular emission spectrum of hydrogen. The picture below shows an example of red shift. The change in color is so small that you need a spectrometer to help you see it. Red shift does NOT mean that a star 'looks red' and blue shift does NOT mean that a star 'looks blue.' If a star is moving towards the Earth it squishes the waves closer than they used to be. Remember that blue light has very short waves. If a star is moving away from the Earth it stretches the waves longer than they used to be. Remember that red light has the longest waves. The change in wavelength is called 'shift' and there are two categories. The difference is so small that human eyes can't detect it. (What is making the wave crests get further apart?)īecause the wavelength is changing, the colors in the starlight are changing too.

Blue shift light