Shapley's View of the Universe
Harlow Shapley's main arguments were: (1) Our Galaxy was very large, approximately 300,000 light years in diameter. This measurement was quite drastic, compared to the previous measurement made. (2) Sun was not at the center of the galaxy, it was approximately 60,000 light years away. This is because the globular clusters were observed to be concentrated towards one half of the sky. Also, the distances of the variable stars implied that the globular clusters were far away. (3) He believed that Milky Way was so large that it was the entire Galaxy (4) Spiral Nebulae were just gaseous clouds located within our Milky Way. He modeled this by observing the globular star clusters. (Zabludoff, 2012) Previously, the distance to one of the prominent globular cluster called M13 was determined by an astronomer and from this he assumed that all the globular clusters were nearly the same size. To derive the distance to the star, Shapley used the Cepheids. He measured the period over which Cephied variable star fluctuates. This period is related to its intrinsic brightness. From measuring the period, he determined its intrinsic brightness/ luminosity and then compared the intrinsic brightness to the observed brightness to determined the actual distance of the stars. He found that the cluster formed a halo around the flat, disk-shaped body of the rest of the galaxy. He concluded that the nebulae did not lay beyond the Milky Way. His theory was that the nebulae was just part of the solar system still in the process of formation. (GEAS,2006) Adriaan Van Manen, was one of Shapley's colleagues at the Observatory he worked. He took photographs of the spiral nebulae and by comparing the photographs of the nebulae over ...
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... Universe expand forever?” http://wmap.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_shape.html The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) “The Expanding Universe” http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr1/en/astro/universe/universe.asp The General Education Astronomy Source (GEAS) (2006) “The Shapley-Curtis Debate – What is our Place in the Universe?” New Mexico State University http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/geas/lectures/lecture27/slide01.html Zabludoff .(2012) “A Great Debate: Shapley vs. Curtis and the Scale of the Universe (1920)”. The University of Arizona http://atropos.as.arizona.edu/aiz/teaching/a250/shapley_curtis.html Cary Sneider, “1929: Edwin Hubble Discovers the Universe is Expanding”, Carnegie Institute for Science http://cosmology.carnegiescience.edu/timeline/1929 Swara Ravindranath, "Edwin Powell Hubble", March 2009, pp. 211-213
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that our Universe was finite. In 1920, The Great Debate, also called the Shapley-Curtis Debate happened in Washington where Shapley argued that our Milky Way was the only galaxy in the Universe and Curtis argued that there were many other galaxies in the Universe but none of the opponents had any concrete evidence to prove their respective theories. However, in 1929 Edwin Hubble provided observational evidence from which he concluded that there was millions of galaxies in the Universe beside our
In 1998 The Accelerating expansion of the Universe was discovered by two competing groups of scientists called the Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-Z Supernova Search Team that were led by Saul Perlmutter, Adam Reiss, and Brian Schmidt. And In 2011 they were awarded noble prizes in physics for their discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe. They did so by applying new technologies like computers and digital cameras to study and measure the spectrum and brightness of the light
Theory of The Big Bang The big bang theory is known as the most popular theory of how our universe came to be. It isn’t the only theory ever proposed but it is the most recognized because it seems to make the most sense. It takes into consideration other theories that help explain different aspects of the overall theory. It doesn’t just explain how the universe came into existence, it also offers an explanation of everything inside of it. The theory really starts by saying there was nothing and then
given by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, the universe is a system consisting of all matter and energy, as well as all of the contents of space as a whole. (Dunbar, Canright) The birth of the universe resulted in the creation of all of the things that we know today, yet, its true origin is unknown. I know what you’re thinking. “If the origin of the universe is unknown, then how do we know how the universe began”? Well, this question has baffled scientists for decades. No exact
always been a driving force behind scientific experiments. Where did we come from? When did space begin? Where does it end? These questions pushed Saul Perlmutter to a ground breaking discovery. Adam Riess and Brian Schmidt’s ambition led them to meet Perlmutter at the same conclusion. The universe’s rate of expansion is accelerating. It is being pushed apart by a mysterious dark energy. Zeeya Merali’s article “Confronting the Dark” follows Perlmutter, Schmidt, and Riess on their journey to discover
helped make many discoveries that scientist never knew they’d be able to discover. Even though it took many, many years to get this working how they wanted it to, it was definitely worth it to lots of these scientist. Hubble Telescope has been one of the many telescopes that have been made, but this particular one has helped scientist tremendously. It has helped capture pictures and many other things a lot easier. Hubble’s background, description of the telescope, the amount of discoveries made, and the
been recorded there has been interest in how the universe came to be. The science community seems to agree that the big bang was what created the universe, but there are many conflicting arguments surrounding what existed before the big bang and what initiated it. While there are nearly infinite responses to this question, there are only two paths one can take when answering it; either something existed prior to the big bang or the entire universe came from nothing. Lawrence M. Krauss, acclaimed
that was born on November 20, 1889 in Marshfield, Montana. Edwin died on September 28, 1953 in San Marino, California. He was a very well known astronomer. Hubble purposed the idea of there being other galaxies other than the Milky Way and that the universe
that the universe was geocentric was a long standing theory. If modern technology that is available today might have been available earlier we would not have had to waste so much time on determining attributes such as a heliocentric model, the problem with the planets, or the question of the basic building blocks. Many technological developments include evidence found for the universes expansion, evidence that would support the Bing Bang Theory, and greater telescopes. For the expansion of the universe
called inflation. As the singularity expanded the universe went from dense and hot to cool and expansive. Inflation is still continuing on today which means that the universe is continually expanding. The big bang theory has evidence to support it. An example of this evidence is the cosmic microwave background. The cosmic microwave background was discovered in 1964. The cosmic microwave background is radiation left over from the beginning of the universe or the big bang. This background is important
ultimately led to the discoveries and developments that made the Renaissance such a remarkable time. It proposed a different way of thinking, unprecedented by scholars. Without humanism and the educational interest that it brought about, the Renaissance would not be known as the explosion of culture that it is considered today. Humanistic belief that ?the church should not rule civic matters, but should guide in only spiritual matters? (The Humanist Philosophy) led to the expansion in education that
Astrophysics Astrophysics in the 20th Century Hubble's Discoveries: Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) is a central figure in the development of observational cosmology. From 1922 to 1936 Hubble solved four of the central problems in cosmology. From 1922 to 1925 Hubble devised a classification system for galaxies by grouping them according to their content, distance, shape, size, and brightness. The galaxy classification system had become the Hubble morphological (The study of form, structure
ever know for certain, how the universe ever came into existence. Cosmologists have uncovered multiple viable theories that explain the advent of the universe, but we assume that there can only be one. In 1927, Georges Lemaître suggested that the universe began at a moment in time and from there everything expanded exponentially outward from that single point. Lemaître’s model was only one of many developed that genuinely offered an explanation to how the universe was created. Lemaître’s model was
The Hubble has helped scientists make many new discoveries about our universe. Galileo Galilei and Edwin Hubble were huge contributes to the astronomical community, therefore a major help in transforming the first telescope into something as amazing as the Hubble. The first telescope was perfected by Galileo in 1609, and around four hundred years later the Hubble was launched into space. Since then the Hubble has shown scientists many new discoveries about space that they would have never been able
conferences. Smoot has given two lectures at TED events discussing “The Design of the Universe” as well as “You are a Simulation & Physics Can Prove It.” In 2009, George Smoot became the first person to win the million dollar prize on, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” Smoot is the author to more than 200 science papers and his own book titled, “Wrinkles in Time.” The book focuses on Smoot’s discovery; the “seeds” the universe grew from and the journey it took him on, for 20 years, to find the “Holy Grail