Edwin Powell Hubble
Edwin Hubble was one of America’s most influential astronomers. One of 7 children of John P. Hubble and Virginia Lee James Hubble, he came into the world on November 20, 1889 in Marshfield, Missouri.
Edwin’s father was an insurance executive and was relocated in Wheaton, Illinois in 1898. Edwin went to high school in Wheaton and excelled not only in academics but also in sports. After high school he studied at the University of Chicago. Upon completion of the University he spent time studying at Oxford University in the United Kingdom as one of the first Rhodes Scholars.
Discoveries by Edwin Hubble helped to change the perception people have of the universe. The Milky Way used to be considered the total extent of the universe. Hubble confirmed other galaxies existed through observations he made while working at the Mount Wilson Observatory in Pasadena, California. Along with various other astronomers of his day, Hubble also discovered that the universe was expanding. (This is knows as the redshift of galaxies. Redshift is a shift toward lower energy or longer wavelength. More information on redshift and understanding it can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift The expanding of galaxies and the mathematical concept to prove the expansion became known as Hubble’s law.
This expansion of the universe also helped to logically determine that, if the galaxies were expanding, it had to expand from a central point. For that expansion to begin to occur something must have caused that beginning. This gave Hubble some supporting proof for Willem De Sitter’s “Big Bang Theory” of the beginning of the universe.
Edwin Hubble also discovered an asteroid called 1373 Cincinnati. He designed a way to arrange the different groups of galaxies known now as the Hubble Sequence. He was instrumental in designing the Hale Telescope, which was set up at Mount Palomar Observatory and was rewarded by being the very first to use it. He published much information about his astronomical discoveries such as his “General Study of Diffuse Galactic Nebulae” in 1922 and the “Distribution of Luminosity in Elliptical Nebulae” in 1930. A more complete list of his published works can be found at http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_references.htm
Many things have been named in honor of Edwin P. Hubble. To name only a few: The Asteroid 2069 Hubble, the Hubble Crater on the moon, a stretch of highway through Marshfield, Missouri, and, of course, the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
Edwin Powell Hubble is remembered as the father of observational cosmology and a pioneer in his field. He died on September 28, 1953 of a cerebral thrombosis.
WEBSITE REFERENCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift
http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_references.htm
http://www.edwinhubble.com/
http://www.astro.louisville.edu/education/hubble_in_louisville/index.html
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/groundup/lesson/bios/hubble/
