SEUE1002

Fundamentals of Cosmology
Assoc. Prof. Tolgahan KILIÇOĞLU
Lecture 08
Expansion of the Universe
Behavior of the Universe
• Two parameters of galaxies, galaxy clusters and superclusters should
be well known in order to reveal how the universe behaves
(expansion, contraction or stasis):
• Distance
• Velocity
How are the Distances of Galaxies Calculated?
• Standard Candle Method
• One of the most well-known methods for
calculating the distances of galaxies and
their groups is the standard candle
method.
• It can be well known how much light a
candle light emits in total.
• In this way, we can reveal how far the
candle is, from its brightness level.
• Assuming that all candles emit roughly
the same amount of light, the fainter a
candle the further it should be.

NASA
How are the Distances of Galaxies Calculated?
• Standard Candle Method (cont.)
• The case where a source fades as it goes away
is known as the inverse square law and is
expressed as follows:
1 F (flux): The amount of light
𝐹∝ 2 that comes to us per second
𝑑 d: Distance of source

• According to this law, the amount of light

reaching us from a source is inversely
proportional to the square of its distance.
• For example, if a light source standing 1 meter
away from us is moved to a distance of 2
meters, its distance will be doubled. Thus, the
light reaching us is reduced by 4 times (the
square of 2). NASA
 How are the Distances of
Galaxies Calculated? (cont.)
• Standard Candle Method (cont.)
• Just like the candles, there are some objects in the universe
that we know well how much light they emit, such as; The North star is a Cepheid type The change in the light of a R Lyrae
variable star. star over time.
• Cepheid Variable Stars: These stars change their light
periodically. Slowly pulsating ones emit more average light phys.org
around them the than fast ones. In this way, it can be found how
much light they emit from their pulsation periods.
• RR Lyrae Variable Stars: These stars also change their light over
time, so they can be easily detected. The average light they emit
is almost the same for all. Therefore, they are very good standard
candles.
• Type Ia supernovae: Binary stars that explode. One of the
components of these binary stars is a white dwarf, and matter
from the other component is thrown on it. White dwarf stars
cannot be larger than 1.4 M, and when they exceed this mass, a
massive explosion occurs. Since the explosion always takes place NASA
at the same mass value, the resulting light is always in the same Type Ia Supernova
amount.
• Galaxies themselves: It has been observed that there is a
relationship between the velocity distribution of some types of
galaxies and the amount of radiation they emit. In this way, some
of the galaxies themselves can be used as standard candles.
• If any of these objects are detected in a galaxy or a group of
galaxies, the distances can be calculated using the inverse
square law.
 How are the Velocity of Galaxies Calculated? (cont.)
• Doppler Effect
• As a car approaches you by honking, you hear
the pitch of the horn getting higher. When it
goes away, the pitch of the horn get lower.
• This effect is known as the Doppler Effect.
• Sound is a wave. As the car approaches you, it
increases the number of waves that strike you
per second (i.e., frequency), causing you to
hear the pitch of the sound higher. As the car
move away, the opposite happens, causing
you to hear the pitch of the sound getting https://flypaper.soundfly.com/discover/what-is-the-doppler-effect/

lower.
• There is no change in the sound of the horn
for the person in the car. Because the person
in the car moves at the same speed of the car.
 How are the Velocity of
Galaxies Calculated? (cont.)
• Doppler Effect (cont.)
• Light is also a type of wave and the Doppler effect v
is also seen for it.
• The frequency of the light coming from a celestial
body approaching us increases, the one moving
away decreases.
• The increase in the frequency of the light Redshift Blueshift
Frequency decreases Frequency increases
(shortening of the wavelength) causes the color of
Wavelength lengthens Wavelength shortens
the observed object to turn blue (blue shift).
• The decrease in the frequency of the light (the
lengthening of the wavelength) causes the color of
the observed object to turn red (redshift).
• In summary, we perceive that if a celestial body is
getting closer to us, its color turns blue, if it moves
away, its color turns red.
 How are the Velocity of Galaxies Calculated? (cont.)
• Doppler Effect (cont.)
• In order for our eyes to perceive that an
object has changed color due to Doppler
effect, the object must be
approaching/moving away from us at high
speeds of 5000 km s-1. : The wavelength the observation was made
• This is a really high speed. However, thanks  𝑣
: Amount of shift
Blueshift is indicated by a negative (-)
to today's observation instruments, even = sign, and a red shift with a positive (+) sign.

the changes in the wavelength of light in  𝑐 v: Recessional velocity

(Approaching is negative (–), Recession is
the order of 0.01 Å can be measured. Very positive (+)!)
c: Speed of light
small velocities such as 0.1 km s-1 can thus
be detected.
• In summary, it is possible to determine the
recessional velocity of a celestial object
observing shifts in their colors.
• This image taken
by the Hubble
Space Telescope
shows the most
distant galaxies in
the universe.
• Although these
galaxies are very
young and blue in
color, they are
seen in red due to
the redshift.
Hubble’s Law

All galaxies (with some exceptions)

exhibit redshifts, that is, moving away
from us.
Hubble’s Law
• Edwin Hubble calculated and
plotted the distances and
recessional velocities of many
galaxies using the methods we
mentioned.
• According to Hubble's graph, the farther away
a galaxy is from the earth, the faster it is
moving away:
𝑣 = 𝐻0 ∙ 𝑑 𝐻0 : Hubble constant
• There could be two explanations for this
situation:
• Either the Earth was at the center of the universe,
• Or the universe was expanding ...
 Copernical Principles
• The earth is not at the center of the Solar System.
• The Solar System is not at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
• The Milky Way Galaxy is not at the center of the Local Group.
• The Local Group is not at the center of a supercluster.
• Therefore, the Earth cannot be expected to be at the center of the
universe.

The above arguments clearly show us that the Earth is

not in a chosen particular place (e.g., at the center) of
the universe. So why are all galaxies seen as moving
away from Earth?
 Expansion of the Universe
A swelling chocolate
drop cake

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/astronomy/chapter/the-expanding-universe/ https://www.science-sparks.com/how-does-the-universe-expand/

• When the universe expands, all galaxies move away from

each other. Therefore, wherever we are in the universe, we
see other galaxies moving away from us.
• In addition, the further away a galaxy is, the faster it must
move away from us.
• These two cases are in line with Hubble's observations!
Some Exceptions
• Hubble's law does not work for very close
galaxies and galaxy groups (galaxies closer
than roughly 40 Mpc). The main reason for
this is that galaxies that are very close to
each other attract each other due to their
gravity. For this reason, the expansion of
the universe is not strong enough to push
these objects apart.
• Classical Hubble's law does not work
correctly for galaxies further than about The spiral galaxy closest to the Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy,
800 Mpc. Since the speed of light is finite, does not obey Hubble's Law. It has a velocity of –110 km s-1 and
when we look the deep (furthest) places in is approaching us. The main reason for this is the gravity
the universe, we actually look the very between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. It seems
these two galaxies will merge in 4.5 billion years.
past (the times when the universe is much
younger than now). The rate of expansion
of the young universe is not necessarily
the same as it is now. In other words, the
Hubble Constant may have different values
in those times.
 Practice
• It is known that variable stars of the RR Lyrae type send 5000 Jy of
light from a distance of 10 pc. Find the distance of an observed RR
Lyrae star sending us 50 Jy of light.
5000 Jy We found that the star is 100 times fainter than the star RR Lyrae that
= 100 located 10 pc away.
50 Jy
A star that is 100 times
1 1 fainter must be 10 times
𝐹∝ 2 𝑑∝ 100 = 10 further away according to
𝑑 𝐹
the inverse square law.

Hence the distance of the star is 10  10 pc = 100 pc.

Practice
• It has been found that the color of a galaxy observed at 5000 Å wavelength
shifts to 1 Å blueward. Is this galaxy moving closer to us or is it moving away
from us? Calculate its velocity. (Speed of light: c: 300 000 km s-1)

 𝑣  −1
= 𝑣=𝑐∙ = 300000 ∙ = −60 km s−1
 𝑐  5000
Since the velocity is negative
(blue shift) the galaxy is
approaching us!
Practice
• It has been determined that a galaxy is moving away from us at a
speed of 1000 km s-1. What can you say about the distance of the
galaxy using Hubble's law? (Let H0 = 72 km s-1 Mpc-1.)
𝑣 1000
𝑣 = 𝐻0 ∙ 𝑑 𝑑= = = 13.9 Mpc
𝐻0 72

The galaxy is expected to be 13.9 Mpc away. But…