Resources for Educators, Instructors, & New-Cosmology Enthusiasts

Redshift Quiz and Brief Historical Discussion

C. Ranzan

Published on the Cellular Universe website ( www.CellularUniverse.org ) 2019

This is a fully open-access article and may be used in whole, or in part, and distributed and reproduced in any medium; provided the original webpage address (www.CellularUniverse.org/Educators/RedshiftTypes.htm), the website URL (www.CellularUniverse.org), and the originating author (Conrad Ranzan) are properly cited.

Contents:

1. Redshift Mechanisms

REDSHIFT HISTORY QUIZ

REDSHIFT-BLUESHIFT QUIZ

2. Historical Discussion

Velocity differential diagram

“... some hitherto unrecognized principle of nature …”
–Hubble's premonition as to the meaning of galactic redshifts

Redshift Mechanisms

In general, and in the context of astrophysics, there are only five ways to alter the wavelength of light. They are: ■ Doppler; ■ space expansion (and contraction); ■ gravitational; ■ tired light (a very broad theoretical category); ■ velocity differential.

What about the cosmic redshift? (Originally, in the 1920s, it was called the astronomical redshift.)

The term “cosmic redshift” simply refers to an empirical observational fact. The name does not, in itself, specify a mechanism that produces the observed spectral shift (the elongation of the light waves from distant galaxies).

REDSHIFT HISTORY QUIZ: In the Table below, match-up the REDSHIFT TYPE with the scientist most-closely associated with its discovery and the corresponding year:

Scientist and year of “discovery”

1. Hyppolyte Fizeau (1848)
2. Einstein and DeSitter (1932)
3. Vesto M. Slipher (1912)
4. Edwin Hubble (1920s)
5. Johann Christian Doppler (1842)
6. Conrad Ranzan (2014)
7. Fritz Zwicky (1920s)
8. Albert Einstein (1917)

Name / Type of REDSHIFT (RS)	Enter appropriate name or # from the adjacent list of scientists
Galactic / nebular RS (first ever measured)
Cosmic RS / Astronomical RS
Motion-related RS
Motion-related redshift (and blueshift) of stars
Tired light RS
Expansion-of-space RS
Gravitational RS (aka Einstein shift)
Velocity differential RS

For the correct connections and additional details, see the article Cosmic Redshift in the Nonexpanding Cellular Universe, AJAA, Vol.2, No.5, 2014, pp.47-60. Reprint (pdf file)

REDSHIFT-BLUESHIFT QUIZ: Returning to the five basic spectral-shift categories. Complete the following table by entering “YES” or “NO” in the indicated spaces of columns two and three.

TYPE of SPECTRAL SHIFT	Redshift (wavelength Increase)	Blueshift (wavelength decrease)
Doppler: ■ Source receding: ■ Source approaching:	______ ______	______ ______
“Space expansion” redshift (Dynamic space spectral shift): ■ When space is expanding: ■ When space is contracting:	______ ______	______ ______
Gravitational: ■ Source inside gravity well and observer outside (or higher up) the well: ■ Source outside (or higher up) the gravity well and observer inside the well:	______ ______	______ ______
Tired light: (This one is obvious)	______	______
Velocity differential shift:	______	______*

Note that the two scenarios for the gravitational shift may also be stated this way: ■ The apparent shift in the wavelength of light entering the gravity well; ■ The apparent shift in the wavelength of light exiting the gravity well.

Answers are given near the bottom of this webpage.

Historical Discussion

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) is the American astronomer generally credited with the discovery, made during the 1920s, of the cosmic redshift —the discovery of the increase in wavelength of the light from distant galaxies. He also found an approximate relationship between a galaxy’s distance and the amount of redshift imparted on its light. (The gradient parameter in that relationship became the ever popular Hubble constant.) But see the side note for the finer historical details of who discovered what.

Historical Note:

The velocity-distance law is the empirical rule that relates a galaxy’s APPARENT recessional velocity (as measured by its redshifted light) to its estimated distance. This relationship was first proposed by the German astronomer Carl Wirtz in 1922. Then, Howard Robertson, the American Cosmologist, in 1928 was given credit with the ‘discovery’ of the velocity-distance law. In 1929 Edwin Hubble reaffirmed the law; and it has been called Hubble’s relation ever since.

Velocity of galaxies = constant × distance
□

His discovery (of cosmic redshift) was interpreted as the recession of galaxies. A big mistake, as it turned out.

THAT interpretation was then extrapolated into the expansion of the visible universe. An even bigger mistake!

But the experts were not yet finished. Their next extrapolation gave us the expansion of the whole universe. In the realm of conceptual mistakes, none is bigger than this one (although it could be argued that the multiverse concept goes even further).

However, let us not blame Edwin Hubble for the extrapolations. In fact, we should not even fault him for the recession-of-galaxies interpretation —an idea he did not originate.

It is a stupendous irony that Hubble is credited by historians with the “discovery” of the expansion of the universe —the discovery of the Big Bang expanding universe!

It is ironic indeed because he did not at all believe in the actuality of galaxy recessional motion and, therefore, rejected the expanding universe hypothesis.

In a book Hubble published in 1937, The Observational Approach to Cosmology, he stated:

“The familiar interpretation of red shifts as velocity shifts very seriously restricts not only the time scale, the age of the universe, but the spatial dimensions as well. On the other hand, the alternative possible interpretation, that red shifts are not velocity shifts, avoids both difficulties … ”

During that same year, Hubble put out a report entitled “Our Sample of the Universe” (Scientific Monthly, Dec 1937), in which he further stated:

“…We may say with confidence that redshifts are the familiar velocity shifts or else they represent some hitherto unrecognized principle of nature …” “…The revelations of this telescope seem to force upon us a choice between a small, finite universe and a universe indefinitely large plus a new principle of nature …” [emphasis added]

Contrary to popular assertions, Edwin Hubble did not discover the recession of distant galaxies; and he certainly did not discover the expansion of the universe. What he did “discover” was the COSMIC redshift. Or more accurately in the historical context, E. Hubble was a major contributor to the discovery of the cosmic redshift (what was then called the astronomical redshift). But he had no idea what caused the spectral shift, what caused the change in the wavelength of the light from distant galaxies.

"Light may lose energy during its journey through space, but if so, we do not yet know how the energy loss can be explained."
–E. Hubble, 1937, The Observational Approach to Cosmology, (p30)

Hubble’s contemporaries were the ones who came up with the wild idea that it was caused by the expansion of the universe; which in turn was caused by a primordial explosion. (And many years later, some speculated that the primordial explosion was itself caused by something called inflation. But that’s another story.) Rival theorists derisively called it a “big bang” universe. And so, the search was on for some alternative way of explaining the cosmic redshift; and it continued for the rest of the 20th century and beyond. To their way of thinking, something seemed not quite right. One wonders. Was it the preposterousness of an expanding universe and the absurdity of the Big Bang hypothesis that motivated these theorists to seek an alternative, more reasonable, mechanism that would fit Hubble’s observations? Who knows! In any case, what is known is this: Never in the history of science has such a profusion of theories and hypotheses emerged for something that in the end turned out to be so utterly simple. Remarkably, well over 60 mechanisms have, over the years, been devised. Redshift expert Louis Marmet has compiled the basic details. “For each mechanism a description is given with its properties, limits of applicability, functional relationships and a discussion.” His article is available here.

As it happened, Hubble’s “hitherto unrecognized principle of nature” was eventually found —some 90-odd years after Hubble had expressed his skepticism. And herein lies another ironic oddity: The cause underlying the cosmic redshift turns out to be just a simple property of light propagation!

QUESTION: What was the principle of nature, what was it about the propagation of light waves, that finally and definitively explained the cosmic redshift? For the answer, see the diagram below.

NOTE: At the time of preparing the present article, this redshift mechanism was not included in Marmet’s compilation!

Hubble was right when he suggested where the answer lies: “some hitherto unrecognized principle of nature”

There exists a velocity differential between the two ends of any wave packet of light while the packet is entering or exiting a gravity well. Two arguments can be used to justify the existence of such a differential: One based on the intensity of gravity (a difference in the gradient of gravity as a force); the other based on aether motion (a difference in the aether's inflow velocity).

For the proof, see the articles:
■ Cosmic Redshift in the Nonexpanding Cellular Universe
■ Sachs-Wolfe Effect Disproof

The velocity differential redshift is based on a pair of utterly simple facts. Whether entering or leaving a gravity well, the leading portion of a light wave (and more broadly, any electromagnetic radiation) is ALWAYS propagating faster than is the trailing end. I repeat, the front end of a wave, or wave train, of electromagnetic radiation is always propagating faster than is the back end.

Why is this mechanism ubiquitous? Why does it occur everywhere in the universe? Answer: Because gravity wells, or gravitational sinks, exist everywhere. The Universe is saturated with autonomous gravity wells and overlapping gravity sinks. It’s as simple as that.

Simple indeed —and yet highly-accredited astroscientists failed to recognize it for over 90 years!

ANSWERS to redshift-blueshift quiz:

TYPE of SPECTRAL SHIFT	Redshift (wavelength Increase)	Blueshift (wavelength decrease)
Doppler: ■ Source receding: ■ Source approaching:	YES NO	NO YES
“Space expansion” redshift (Dynamic space spectral shift): ■ When space is expanding: ■ When space is contracting:	YES NO	NO YES
Gravitational: ■ Source inside gravity well and observer outside (or higher up) the well: ■ Source outside (or higher up) the gravity well and observer inside the well:	YES NO	NO YES
Tired light: (This one is obvious)	YES	NO
Velocity differential shift:	YES	YES *

* The velocity differential blueshift is detectable only after the fact. The reason it is not directly observable is because the blueshifting occurs on the opposite side of a lightspeed boundary (also known as an event horizon). It all happens while the electromagnetic radiation is trapped at the inner side of an aether lightspeed boundary; there, the light undergoes a decrease in wavelength (a blueshift).

Under appropriate conditions, the light eventually emerges and may be observable as the beams of x-rays and gamma rays emitted by end-state neutron stars and by supermassive black regions (popularly, but misleadingly, called supermassive black holes). The mechanism is detailed in

Cosmic Redshift in the Nonexpanding Cellular Universe: Velocity-Differential Theory of Cosmic Redshift, American Journal of Astronomy & Astrophysics (AJAA). Vol.2, No.5, 2014, pp.47-60. (http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20140205.11)
PDF Reprint

Resources:

Louis Marmet, “On the Interpretation of Red-Shifts: A Quantitative Comparison of Red-Shift Mechanisms II”, 2016, February 29. Posted at Louis Marmet’s website (2016): http://www.marmet.org/louis/
PDF file: http://www.marmet.org/cosmology/redshift/mechanisms.pdf

NOTE: The velocity-differential redshift mechanism is not included in Marmet’s compilation!□

2019-10

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C. Ranzan

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