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Band shifting (or cosmological band shifting) is the effect of redshift on photometry and other astronomical observations similarly-restricted to certain bands. It is the cause of dropouts, thus a mechanism by which the potential for extreme distances can be detected. It also must be taken into account in estimating star formation rates of distant galaxies. The gross spectral characteristics provided by photometry are often the only information available because the limited EMR received makes spectrography a very lengthy undertaking or totally impractical, and the effects of band shifting must be considered.