Edwin+Hubble

=Edwin Hubble =  (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953)



Biography
 Edwin Hubble was born in Marshfield, Missouri on November 20, 1889, then in 1898 he moved to Chicago where he attended High School.Not only was Hubble interested in science and the works of Jules Verne, but he was an outstanding athlete as well; breaking Illinois high jump record. Hubble studied Mathematics and Astronomy as an Undergrad at the University of Chicago, before he went on to attend Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. At Oxford Hubble surprisingly did not continue the study of Astronomy, instead, he pursued law because he was unsure whether or not he wanted to pursue a career in the sciences. In 1913 Hubble returned to the United States and opened a small law practice in Louisville, Kentucky, which did not last long. Hubble began to study at the Yerkes Observatory and it 1917 he received his doctorate in Astronomy from the University of Chicago. Soon after receiving his doctorate he was offered a position at the [|Mount Wilson Observatory] where he held a position until his death and also where many of his discoveries were made. [1] Hubble died on September 28, 1953 in San Marino, California of a cerebral thrombosis, a blood clot in the brain, surprisingly there was no funeral held for him. [2]

Discoveries
 One of Hubble's first discoveries was that the universe goes beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. Hubble concluded that this had to be true when he focused, the newly built 100-inch [|Hooker Telescope], on the fuzzy nebulae of the[| Andromeda Nebula]. Other astronomers of this time thought that all of these were part of our galaxy, but Hubble quickly proved them wrong. In 1923, Hubble discovered that the stars in the Andromeda Nebula were just like the stars in our galaxy except they were dimmer. Through this observation he discovered a Cepheid variable, which is a star with a varying brightness that can be used to measure distance. Using this information Hubble concluded that the Andromeda Nebula was not a nearby star cluster, but an entire galaxy. [3]

 In 1926, Hubble developed the Hubble Sequence this "sequence" separates the galaxies into different types - ellipticals, lenticulars, and spirals based on their shape in photographs. A fourth category called irregulars has been added since its original development, but this system of classification is still used today in astronomy. [1]

 After his development of this classifying system Hubble began work with redshifts and how that affects the distance of things, such as galaxies. Hubble worked with Milton L. Humason discovered that planets and galaxies were expanding. With this, Hubble developed [|Hubble Law], which stated that galaxies that are moving away are red and ones moving closer are blue, (redder galaxies mean that they are moving faster). This proved that distance was proportional to velocity, therefore, if the distance was twice as far away the velocity was twice as much. This idea forms the basis to of the Big Bang Theory and proves that the universe has been expanding ever since. [4]

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Hubble Telescope
The [|Hubble Telescope] was launched into orbit in 1990, carried into space by a space shuttle. The Hubble Telescope is one of the most important telescopes that we have in space and was named after the great astronomer, Edwin Hubble. [5]

The idea of telescopes was proposed in 1923, but the Hubble project did not become funded until the 1970s with a date of maybe launching the telescope in 1983. With budget problems, technical issues, and the Challenger disaster on NASA's shoulders the Hubble telescope did not see space until 1990. After its deployment, there were immediate problems with the telescope. The problem was that the main mirror was not installed properly and this severely hurt the capabilities of the telescope. In 1993, NASA conducted a service mission to fix the mirror. This mission was a success and led to Hubble taking some of the most fascinating photos of galaxies, stars, and planets throughout the solar system. [6]

The Hubble Telescope has helped to accurately determine the expansion rate of the universe and take some of the most detailed visible light photos that we have to this day. Not only has it paved the way for making many breakthroughs in astrophysics, but it is a detrimental part of astronomical history and it all started with one man, Edwin Hubble, and his love for space and the unknown. The Hubble Telescope is the only telescope to have been serviced in space, with four service missions from 1993-2002, with a final mission in 2009. NASA has said that the Hubble Telescope will function until 2014 when its successor the James Webb Space Telescope will be sent into space. [5]

Fun Fact
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 * An interesting fact about Edwin Hubble was that he worked extremely hard to get Astronomy recognized in the area of physics rather than as its own discipline. He wanted this to happen so that him and other astronomers could be recognized for the Nobel Prize for their contributions to astrophysics. Although the committee did not allow this to happen until after Hubble's death in 1953, astronomers from then on have been able to be acknowledged for the achievements all because of Edwin Hubble's determination. [7]
 * 1938: he received the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal, awarded yearly by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. [7]
 * 1939: he received the 1939 Franklin Medal in Physics for his in depth work in the study of nebulae, particularly those in outside our galaxy.[7]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1948: He was an Honorary Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, for notable contributions in astronomy.[7]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1955: Asteroid 2069 Hubble, which was discovered by Indiana University astronomers, is named after Edwin Hubble, as is the crater on the moon, and the Hubble Telescope.[7]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. http://www.edwinhubble.com/hubble_bio_001.htm <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Bryson, Bill (2003). A Short History of Nearly Everything. USA: Broadway Books <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. http://hubble.nasa.gov/overview/hubble_bio.php <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble%27s_law <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_telescope <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. Bennett, Jefferey, Megan Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, and Mark Voit. __The Comic Perspective.__ Pearson Addison-Wesley: San Francisco, California, 2010. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. http://www.fi.edi/learn/case-files/hubble/reward.html