asked 230k views
4 votes
If a star's radial velocity is -50 km/s, the frequency of its light would appear to be ______ (higher or lower) than its true frequency. We usually say that the star's wavelength is __________ (blue or red) shifted.

asked
User KingPong
by
7.8k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Answer: If a star's radial velocity is -50 km/s, the frequency of its light would appear to be higher than its true frequency. We usually say that the star's wavelength is blue shifted.

Step-by-step explanation:

Radial velocity is defined as the velocity of how an object is seen by the axis of a circle.

Then, if the radial velocity is -50km/s, this means that the radius is decreasing, and then that the star is coming towards the viewer.

as the star is coming towards the viewer, we will see a shorter wavelength, which implies that the frequency would appear to be bigger as it really is.

and this is called a blue shift, because the blue light is the visible light with the biggest frequency, while the red light is the visible light with the smallest frequency, then we have:

If a star's radial velocity is -50 km/s, the frequency of its light would appear to be higher than its true frequency. We usually say that the star's wavelength is blue shifted.

No related questions found

Welcome to Qamnty — a place to ask, share, and grow together. Join our community and get real answers from real people.