Helen Telila

Mt. Holyoke College

Fall 2007
 Edwin Hubble
 Born in Marshfield, Missouri in
1889.
 He did his undergraduate studies
in mathematics and astronomy at
the University of Chicago.
 He then studied law at Oxford
University.
 He wasn’t happy as a lawyer ; he
went back to the University of
Chicago to earn his PhD in
Astronomy.
 He studied the Universe at Mount
Wilson Observatory in California,
where he formulated Hubble Law.
 The Hubble telescope is named
after him. http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/
The Hubble Space Telescope(HST)
 HST is a space based
telescope launched by
NASA in 1990.
 It’s about the size of a
school bus.
 It has taken detailed
pictures of the
universe; it
revolutionalized the
way astronomers look
at the universe.

http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/image.php?image=hst-above
 The Universe

 Before Hubble
 the universe was
thought to be constant.
 the Milky Way was the
only known galaxy.
 Edwin Hubble was the
first astronomer who
 observed and
identified other galaxies.
 found out the universe
is expanding.

http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_gallery/whirlpool_galaxy_M51.htm
 Hubble’s Observation

 Nearly all galaxies are moving away from us.

 The farther away the galaxies are the further they
move.
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/redshift.html
 Doppler Effect

 Sound released by a source

that is moving away from an
observer have low frequency –
red shifted.
 Low frequency – high
wavelength.
 Sound released by a source
moving toward an observer
have high frequency – blue
shifted.
 High frequency –low
wavelength.
 Doppler effect is also true for
all electromagnetic waves.
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Bima/doppler.html
 Emission and Absorption Spectrum

 Every element emits a

unique set of
wavelengths/frequencies.
 Emitted light is passed
through a spectroscope.
 The spectroscope
separates the light
according to the
frequencies present.
 The resulting spectrum
provides a unique
signature of the element.

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/light/absorption.html
 Absorption Spectrum of a Quasar
Analyzed by the Hubble Space Telescope

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/41/image/r
Hubble’s Law and Doppler Effect
 Every galaxy has a characteristic line
spectrum.
 If a galaxy is to remain constant from earth,
the spectrum lines appear in a normal
position.
 If a galaxy is moving away from earth, the
spectrum lines will be red-shifted.
 If a galaxy is moving toward earth, the
spectrum lines will be blue-shifted.
 Hubble discovered nearly all galaxies were
red-shifted.
 The universe is expanding.
 Hubble’s Law and it’s Implications
 Hubble’s Law gives the expansion rate
of the universe .
 V=H x R where H–Hubble constant
R – distance of the
galaxy from earth
 Hubble’s Law resulted in the Big
Bang theory.
 If galaxies are moving away, they
must have been together long-ago.
 The expansion rate is used to
estimate the age of the universe.
 The age of the universe is estimated
to be 13.7 billion years .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Universe_expansion2.png
 Sources
 The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen
Hawking.
 http://www.edwinhubble.com
 http://hubblesite.org