8. According to paragraph 6, how did astronomers learn that the universe is expanding?
- By measuring the distance between galaxies
- By observing the movement of stars within galaxies
- By studying the wavelengths of light from distant galaxies
- By comparing the sizes of different galaxies
Paragraph 6
The evidence that the universe is expanding makes it possible to estimate its age. This evidence, called the redshift, is an increase in the wavelengths of light waves traveling through space—a shift toward the red end of the visible spectrum of wavelengths. Expansion of the space between galaxies causes this shift by stretching light waves as they pass through it. The farther these light waves have traveled through space, the greater the redshift they have undergone. For this reason, light waves that reach Earth from distant galaxies have larger redshifts than those from nearby galaxies. Calculations based on these redshifts indicate that about 13.7 billion years ago all of the galaxies would have been at one spot, the site of the big bang. This, then, is the approximate date of the big bang and the age of the universe.