Radial velocity

14 JUN. 2013 Utgivelsesdato 8459 Visninger

The radial velocity of a star is the star’s velocity seen towards or away from the observer, or in this case, towards or away from Gaia.

Gaia determined the radial velocity of its stellar candidates by looking at the way the stars emit light through the Doppler effect. That is, the frequency of light moving away from an observer decreases (redshift), while the frequency of light moving towards an observer will increase (blueshift).

This property can be accurately determined by studying high-resolution spectra of stars, by looking at the way the spectral lines move in the spectrum as the star moves. For example, the spectral lines appeared to move towards the red end of the spectrum as the star moved away from Gaia, while a star moving towards Gaia had its frequency of light compressed, shifting the spectral lines to the blue end of the spectrum.

Stellar radial velocities are needed to determine the velocity of stars with respect to the Sun, and are therefore essential to our understanding of the kinematics of our Galaxy.


hold deg oppdatert

Abonner på nyhetsbrevet vårt for å motta de siste nyhetene, oppdateringer om oppdrag og eksklusiv innsikt direkte i innboksen din. Vær blant de første som får vite om våre kommende prosjekter og gjennombrudd.