... Under certain conditions, like those in the nucleus of a QSO, all atoms can be made to emit light at particular wavelengths. ... If that source is approaching the observer, the wave is squashed up onto itself making the wavelength shorter. ... This is redshift. ... You can see how the section of the QSO spectrum which we observe changes with redshift. ... We then see how far we had to slide the observed spectrum along the scale to make it match and that is the objects redshift. ... The 2QZ team . ...