How much of the galactic redshift is due to cosmology and to ordinary Doppler effects?

It depends on the distance to the galaxy. For an expansion rate of 65 kilometers/sec/megaparsec, the average galaxy at 10 megaparsecs will have a redshift 'velocity' of 650 kilometers/sec. But many galaxies live inside clusters where the typical random speed can be 300 kilometers/sec or more. So, that means the total velocity shift could be anywhere from 650 - 300 = 350 kilometers/sec to 650+300 = 950 kilometers/sec. So, for nearby galaxies, local Doppler motion can be 50 percent or more of the total redshift. That's why astronomers need to take extra care to account for all the possible non-cosmological motions in nearby galaxies for which distances are better known. For very distant galaxies the problem is a lot easier because at say 100 megaparsecs, the cosmological redshift is 65 x 100 = 6500 kilometers/sec, and local Doppler motions for these galaxies in their respective clusters are still only 300 kilometers/sec, so that means the Doppler component is less than 10 percent of the total measured redshift. That's why astronomers want to use the farthest galaxies to determine the expansion speed, but these galaxies are also the ones for which the estimates for their distances by independent means are the least reliable to factors of 50 percent or more uncertainty.


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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