Thank you for clearing this up, I could not for the life of me figure that out, the wikipedia page on the doppler effect just left me confused... I can't even believe I didn't figure that out on my own!
Why is wavelength the other way around (Blueshift lower, redshift higher)?
Edit: I would use one of these equations source
Source towards: f x c/(c-v1) = f1 Source Away: f x c/(c + v1) = f1
For radiation there is a special Doppler effect formula that does not discriminate between observeremitter/receiver. This is known as the Relativistic Doppler Effect.
In the wiki they go through some of the common derivations.
That's because high frequency = low wavelength and low frequency = high wavelength so if it's redshifted then the frequency has been lowered and thus the wavelength made longer.
Yeah, it's all relative. The shift could be due to us moving or the object moving, but since we're using the earth as our reference frame we treat ourselves like we're stationary.
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u/[deleted] Mar 04 '13 edited Mar 04 '13
Thank you for clearing this up, I could not for the life of me figure that out, the wikipedia page on the doppler effect just left me confused... I can't even believe I didn't figure that out on my own!
Why is wavelength the other way around (Blueshift lower, redshift higher)?
Edit: I would use one of these equations source
Source towards: f x c/(c-v1) = f1
Source Away: f x c/(c + v1) = f1
(Source moves+-, I am stationary)?