Beyond Earth

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Question 12
Medium

A binary star system consists of two stars, P P\,P and QQQ, orbiting their common centre of mass. An observer in the plane of the orbit views the system. At a particular instant, star P P\,P is moving directly towards the observer with speed vvv, and star Q Q\,Q is moving directly away from the observer with speed vvv (where v≪cv \ll cv≪c).

A spectral line has an emission wavelength λ0 \lambda_0\,λ0​ and frequency f0 f_0\,f0​ in the rest frame of the stars.

Which row correctly describes the observed wavelength λP \lambda_P\,λP​ from star P P\,P and the observed frequency fQ f_Q\,fQ​ from star QQQ?

λP=λ0(1+vc)\lambda_P = \lambda_0\left(1 + \frac{v}{c}\right)λP​=λ0​(1+cv​) and fQ=f0(1−vc)f_Q = f_0\left(1 - \frac{v}{c}\right)fQ​=f0​(1−cv​)

λP=λ0(1−vc)\lambda_P = \lambda_0\left(1 - \frac{v}{c}\right)λP​=λ0​(1−cv​) and fQ=f0(1−vc)f_Q = f_0\left(1 - \frac{v}{c}\right)fQ​=f0​(1−cv​)

λP=λ0(1−vc)\lambda_P = \lambda_0\left(1 - \frac{v}{c}\right)λP​=λ0​(1−cv​) and fQ=f0(1+vc)f_Q = f_0\left(1 + \frac{v}{c}\right)fQ​=f0​(1+cv​)

λP=λ0(1+vc)\lambda_P = \lambda_0\left(1 + \frac{v}{c}\right)λP​=λ0​(1+cv​) and fQ=f0(1+vc)f_Q = f_0\left(1 + \frac{v}{c}\right)fQ​=f0​(1+cv​)

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