Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble — A renowned astronomer
Edwin Hubble was one of the most influential astronomers of the early twentieth century. While today most people know the name Hubble from the space telescope, here I take a dive into the person who inspired the naming of the space telescope.
Studies
Hubble had access to top notch institutions, attending the University of Chicago to study mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy before gaining a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford to study law. While Hubble did not want to study law, he pursued the practice as a gift to his dying father. Upon return to the US, Hubble was able to complete his doctorate in astronomy at a local telescope facility near Louisville. For the start of his astronomy career, Hubble went to work at the famous Mt. Wilson observatory, hosting the 100 inch Hooker reflective telescope, the largest in the world at the time.
Mt. Wilson
On Mt. Wilson Hubble was able to record observations of Cepheid variables, a new type of star discovered by Henrietta Levitt a couple decades earlier. Due to their periodic luminosity changes corresponding to the intrinsic brightness of the star, these observations allowed Hubble to measure the distance to objects called nebulae, which at the time were considered to be part of the Milky Way. Revealing that these nebulae were too far away to be inside the Galaxy, the Universe as we know it today was established with these nebulae becoming their own galaxies inside an expanded definition of the Universe.
Galaxy Classification
Hubble studied these newly redefined galaxies and came up with the Hubble sequence, or how he interpreted galaxies to evolve over time. Much of what Hubble speculated at the time turned out to be wrong, but astronomers still use terms such as “late-type”, referring to spiral galaxies, or “early-type”, referring to ellipticals, to this day. Astronomers later discovered that spirals evolve into ellipticals through mergers, but nonetheless the nomenclature still exists, a common theme in astronomy where historical precedent prevails.
Hubble’s Law
While determining the distance to galaxies, Hubble was also able to measure how fast these galaxies were moving towards or away from the Milky Way. From his findings, Hubble determined that the farther a galaxy was from us, the faster it is receding, a principle today known as Hubble’s Law. This implied that the Universe was not static as previously thought, but rather expanding. Einstein’s general theory of relativity had shown that the Universe was expanding, but added a constant value in to make sure that the Universe was static, a move which he deemed to be his greatest blunder.
Conclusion
Edwin Hubble contributed important knowledge to the world of astronomy atop Mt. Wilson. His legacy carries on with the Hubble telescope, performing much of the same work that Hubble himself carried out to this day almost a century ago.
