Edwin Hubble Biography

The telescope would become the indispensable instrument for investigations of the cosmos. Bigger and better telescopes were built all over the world. Planets, stars, and nebulae which could not be seen by the naked eye were now being routinely noted and logged. Such is the case with the fantastic discoveries for which the Hubble Space Telescope has been responsible during the twentieth century. Had it not been for the creation of such a monumental piece of scientific machinery, the worlds not have

Hubble turned away from astronomy and decided to studied law. He completed the two-year law course in 1912, while continuing to succeed in his athletic endeavors through various track and field events. Hubble returned to the United States in 1913 and began practicing law in Louisville, Kentucky. However, he soon found himself bored with law and returned to what he later realized as his passion: astronomy.

The Hubble Space Telescope has been sent into space to take pictures of our universe. Hubble has made more than 1.2 million observations since its launch on 1990. The Hubble weighs 27,000 pounds. It does not travel, it just takes

The Hubble Space Telescope is the first major telescope that was placed in space. It has been in operation for over twenty-five years, and has greatly changed our knowledge of the universe. It can observe galaxies and stars that are very far away since it is not blocked at all by light pollution and smog that obstructs the views of the telescopes on Earth. Hubble is fascinating because it was and still is the most revolutionary telescope since Galileo first looked through one over four hundred years ago. Hubble played a large role in helping scientists discover and learn about many things like dark matter and dark energy, the age of the universe, and gamma ray bursts. None of these discoveries would have been possible without Hubble’s unique view of the universe.

The telescope is an optical instrument designed to make distant objects appear nearer. It contains an arrangement of lenses or mirrors or both that gathers visible light, permitting direct observation or photographic recording of distant objects. (Lacki, B. C. 2011). With the use of telescopes we have been able to learn a lot more about the planets in our universe. It has helped us understand about some of the history of everything around us. Also it has been able to track asteroids and comets or any randomly flying objet in outer space that might become threatening to our planet.

Hubble’s revolutionary work includes finding a constant relationship between galaxies’ distance and redshift. This helped prove that the universe is expanding. He also created a classification system that was created for galaxies. The system he created is called the Hubble Sequence, which many researchers have used for the past decades.

Edwin created Hubble’s Law, which supported the Big Bang Theory. Hubble also figured out that the Milky Way is not the only celestial body in the universe. “Hubble added integral knowledge to the field of astronomy, including the discovery of other galaxies and proof that the universe is constantly expanding” (Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, 2000). Hubble innovated in his field by changing the perspective of the Universe, and impacted society by making the world so much bigger. Hubble’s discoveries inspired multiple people to join the field of astronomy, and to remain open to new situations. Whenever somebody is able to do this well, they are bound to do great

The only thing standing in Edwin’s way of getting a clean picture of the stars was this thing known as the Earth’s atmosphere, which because of the fluidic gas and dust that make up the atmosphere it often “blurs visible light, causing stars to twinkle and making it difficult to see faint stars.”(Dunbar) As this makes his job virtually impossible, a German scientist comes up with the idea of a telescope in space to not only see farther but also to see clearer, this was a crucial turning point in Hubble’s findings and will eventually lead to the one of the greatest and most recognized theories around the world.

On April 24th of 1990, The Hubble Space Telescope was launched. This was an important event for NASA, because they finally had something to looked further into the space. The Hubble Space Telescope was known as (HST), and it was sent to orbit around our earthly planet. Did you know it took only 97 minutes to orbit around our planet? Hubble Space Telescope helped change the NASA’s thought on the universe because,

This has helped us learn far more about the origins of our Universe and the formation of galaxies from around a billion years after the creation of the Universe, where the galaxies appear to be very shapeless and small, to today where they are larger and formed into spirals or discs. The Hubble Space Telescope has helped pinpoint the age of the Universe to 13.7 billion years22 by studying 31 Cepheid variable stars22, whose fluctuating brightness can be used to calculate their distance thus the expansion and therefore age of the Universe. Knowing the age of the Universe helps astronomers and cosmologists model the Universe and its evolution over its lifetime accurately, which is immensely valuable information to

In 1936, George Hale designed the 200-inch telescope. After Hale’s death in 1938, Edwin Hubble directed the completion of the telescope in 1948 and discovered the Hubble Variable Nebulae when using the telescope for the first time in January 1949. The telescope would be the largest the largest in the world until 1976. This telescope, considered Hubble’s last contribution to astronomy, has led to the discovery of quasars, black holes, and comets. The telescope is still used every night for astronomical

in 1910 he received his Bachelor of Science degree. After getting his Bachelors of Science, he spent 3 year at The queens College in Oxford where he studied law, fulfilling his promise to his dying father. During his time at The Queens College, he also studied literature and spanish, which helped him earn his Masters degree. In the winter of 1913, Edwin’s father passed away, the following summer he returned to take care of his mourning family. After a few months had passed, he got a job as a teacher at the New Albany high school in indiana, where he would teach spanish, physics and math for a year. After teaching for one year, at the age of 25, he decided that he wanted to start over and pursue astronomy again. He enrolled in graduate school to study astronomy at the Yerkes Observatory where he eventually received his PhD in 1917. Later that year when the U.S declared war on Germany, Hubble volunteered for the US army and got assigned to the newly created 86th Division. and despite never seeing combat, he was able to achieve the rank of major. He also fought in WWII and received a Legion of Merit award. In 1919, he was offered a position at Mount Wilson Observatory in California, which he took and remained to work there

The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most amazing machines in orbit right now. In 1946, an astrophysicist named Dr. Lyman Spitzer proposed that a telescope in space would reveal better and clearer images that are even far from earth than any ground telescope. This idea was very extravagant because no one had yet launched a rocket into outer space. As the US space program excelled quickly over the early years, Spitzer lobbied NASA and Congress to develop a space telescope. In 1975, the European Space Agency and NASA began to develop the telescope that would change astronomy for ever. In 1977, Congress approved funding for the development of the space telescope and NASA named Lockheed Martin Aerospace Company as the prime contractor

As Hubble age, he was unable to use the telescope any more. He didn’t have the strength or energy to stay in the cage for long periods of time. So, he sent Sandage to carry out tasks for him. Everyday Sandage would be given coordinates or jobs by Hubble. When Sandage was done recording he data of his work, he would go back to Hubble and give him the results (Overbye 22). This shows how devoted he was to his research, even if he was unable to handle the job due to old age he compromised. All of Hubble’s work and Sandage work was done on the 100-in telescope, yet Hubble was still able to find the Andromeda Nebulae’s distance for the Milky Way and study red shifts. While the 200-in. telescope was being built, Hubble asked if he could use the telescope for half of its available time. This shows his devotion because he wanted to use the telescope in order to further enhance his research (17).

As stated on nasa.gov, “Hubble has made more than 1.2 million observations since it’s missions began in 1990.” Hubble has also expanded astronomers knowledge about the universe and space as a whole. The most famous observation made by this telescope was that of galaxies beyond our own, Milky Way, and discovering that the universe is much larger than further predicted. Before this telescope, ground based telescopes could only see into our galaxy and could not reach any further. Therefore, it was thought that the Milky Way was the only galaxy included in space and the universe. Due to the fact, Hubble’s telescope, expands and allows for the study across a wider light spectrum, astronomers can see beyond further predicted. Another famous observation, studied by astronomers was that of the study of uncharted territories of the cosmos. As proposed on hubblesite.org, “It became increasingly clear to astronomers that Earth’s atmosphere distorted starlight, which made it difficult to obtain razor-sharp views of celestial objects. The idea of placing a telescope in space, above Earth’s turbulent air, had been kicked around for several years. But scientists pondered how to transport a telescope into space.” That was until, Hubble’s creation that displayed imagery of the cosmos. Once again it had accomplished a feat that had troubled ground based telescopes. In