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center o bass
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I have heard cosmologists use the phrase "at redshift", presumably indicating the location of something. Are redsifts used to specify locations in cosmology, and if so, how is that done?
PeterDonis said:The redshift basically indicates location, yes, if you interpret that as "location in spacetime". The reason cosmologists give the redshift instead of a distance (e.g., "1 billion light-years away") or a time (e.g., "1 billion years ago") is that the redshift is what we actually observe, and how it translates into a distance or a time depends on other cosmological parameters whose values we haven't necessarily pinned down. So rather than have to specify which particular values of all those parameters are being assumed when a distance or a time is given based on an observed redshift, cosmologists just give the observed redshift directly.
Essentially, yes.center o bass said:Is this idea based on Hubbles law? I.e. that ##v = H d## where v is the velocity of a galaxy and d is it's distance from us? Using that
$$v/c :=z = (\lambda - \lambda_0)/\lambda_0 = d/H$$
we see that given the redshift ##z##, we can determine ##d##. Is this the basic idea?
center o bass said:Is this the basic idea?
PeterDonis said:Yes, but the expansion rate of the universe (which is what ##H## refers to) changes with time, and we don't know how, exactly, it changes with time.
center o bass said:Is this idea based on Hubbles law? I.e. that ##v = H d## where v is the velocity of a galaxy and d is it's distance from us? Using that
$$v/c :=z = (\lambda - \lambda_0)/\lambda_0 = d/H$$
we see that given the redshift ##z##, we can determine ##d##. Is this the basic idea?
center o bass said:Indeed, but it does not change as fast that ##d = H z## will be significantly tomorrow (or next year) from what it was today?
The phrase "at redshift" refers to the measure of the amount of light that is stretched to longer wavelengths due to the expansion of the universe. It is represented by the symbol "z" and is used to determine the distance and age of objects in the universe.
Redshift is measured by comparing the observed wavelength of an object to its expected or known wavelength. This is typically done using a spectroscope, which separates incoming light into its component wavelengths. The difference between the observed and expected wavelength is then used to calculate the redshift.
A higher redshift value indicates that the object is moving away from us at a faster rate and is therefore further away in the expanding universe. This also means that the light from the object has been stretched to longer wavelengths and appears more red in color.
Yes, redshift can be used to estimate the age of the universe by measuring the expansion rate of the universe over time. This is known as the Hubble constant and can be used to calculate the age of the universe using the formula: age = 1/H0, where H0 is the current value of the Hubble constant.
Redshift measurements can also provide information about the composition and structure of the universe. For example, the distribution of redshift values can indicate the presence of large structures such as galaxies and galaxy clusters. It can also be used to study the expansion rate of the universe and the amount of dark energy present.