The increase in the accuracy of Doppler measurements in space requires a rigorous definition of the observed quantity when the propagation occurs in a moving, and possibly dispersive medium, like the solar wind. This is usually done in two divergent ways: in the phase viewpoint it is the time derivative of the correction to the optical path; in the ray viewpoint the signal is obtained form the deflection produced in the ray. They can be reconciled by using the time derivative of the optical path in the Lagrangian sense, i.e. differentiating from ray to ray. To rigorously derive this result an understanding, through relativistic Hamiltonian theory, of the delicate interplay between rays and phase is required; a general perturbation theorem which generalizes the concept of the Doppler effect as a Lagrangian derivative is proved. Relativistic retardation corrections O(v) are obtained, well within the expected sensitivity of Doppler experiments near solar conjunction.
The Doppler effect is not what you think it is: Dramatic pitch change due to dynamic intensity change