If someone thinks that the word “run up” has a purely sporting, in the extreme case, “anti-conjugal” character, then he is mistaken. There are much more interesting interpretations. For example, the Hubble Cosmological Law suggests that ... galaxies are scattering!
Three types of nebulae
Imagine: in a black, huge airless space, star systems quietly and slowly move away from each other: “Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!". Perhaps, we will leave aside the “lyrical digressions” and turn to scientific information. In 1929, the most influential astronomer of the 20th century, American scientist Edwin Powell Hubble (1889-1953) came to the conclusion: there is a steady expansion of the universe.
A man who devoted his entire conscious life to unraveling the structure of the cosmos was born in Marshfield (Missouri). From a young age he was interested in astronomy, although he eventually became a certified lawyer. After graduating from Cambridge University, Edwin worked in Chicago at the York Observatory. He fought in the First World War (1914-1918). The front years only pushed the opening in time. Today, the entire scientific world knows what the Hubble constant is.
On the road to discovery
Returning from the front, the scientist turned his eyes to the Mount Wilson Alpine Observatory (California). He was hired there to work. In love with astronomy, the young man spent a lot of time looking at the lenses of huge telescopes 60 and 100 inches in size. For that time - the largest, almost fantastic! The inventors worked on the devices for almost a decade, achieving the maximum possible increase and clarity of the image.
Recall that the visible boundary of the Universe is called the Metagalaxy. It proceeds to the state at the time of the Big Bang (cosmological singularity). Current provisions state that the values of physical constants are homogeneous (meaning the speed of light, elementary charge, etc.). It is believed that the Metagalaxy contains 80 billion galaxies (an amazing figure also sounds like this: 10 sextillion and 1 septillion stars). Shape, mass and size - for the Universe it is completely different from the concepts accepted on Earth.
Mysterious Cepheids
To substantiate a theory explaining the expansion of the universe, it took lengthy in-depth research, complex comparisons and calculations. In the early twenties of the 20th century, yesterday’s soldier was finally able to classify the nebulae observed separately from the Milky Way. According to his discovery, they are spiral, elliptical and irregular (three species).
In the star system closest to us , but not the closest spiral nebula of Andromeda, Edwin saw Cepheids (a class of pulsating stars). Hubble’s Law has become closer than ever to its final formation. The astronomer calculated the distance to these beacons and the size of the largest galaxy of the Local Group. According to his findings, Andromeda contains about one trillion stars (2.5-5 times larger than the Milky Way).
Constant
Some scientists, explaining the nature of Cepheids, compare them with inflatable rubber balls. They either increase, then decrease, then approach, then move away. Radial velocity fluctuates. When compressed, the temperature of "travelers" increases (although the surface decreases). Pulsating stars are an unusual pendulum that, sooner or later, will stop.
Like the rest of the nebula, Andromeda is described by scientists as an island universal space resembling our galaxy. In 1929, Edwin discovered: the radial velocities of galaxies and their distances are interconnected, linearly dependent. A coefficient expressed in km / s per megaparsec (Mpc) was determined . This is the so-called Hubble constant. The Universe is expanding - a constant is changing. But at a particular moment at all points of the system of the universe, it is the same. In 2016, 66.93 ± 0.62 (km / s) / Mpc.
Representations of the system of the universe, continuing evolution, expanding, then received an observational basis. The process was actively studied by an astronomer until the outbreak of World War II. In 1942, he headed the Department of External Ballistics at the Aberdeen Proving Ground (USA). Did this associate, perhaps, of the most mysterious science in the world, dream about this? No, he wanted to “decipher” the laws of the hidden corners of distant galaxies! As for political views, the astronomer openly condemned the leader of the Third Reich Adolf Hitler. At the end of his life, Hubble was considered a powerful opponent of the use of weapons of mass destruction. But back to the nebulae.
Great edwin
Many astronomical constants are adjusted over time, new discoveries appear. But all of them cannot be compared with the Law of expansion of the Universe. The famous astronomer of the 20th century, Hubble (since he was not equal to Copernicus!) Is put on a par with the founder of experimental physics Galileo Galilei and the author of the innovative conclusion about the existence of stellar systems, William Herschel.
Even before the Hubble Act was unveiled, its author became a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, later academies in different countries, has many awards. Many probably heard about the fact that more than ten years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit. This name bears a crater on the moon, one of the minor planets orbiting between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter (an asteroid).
It is not entirely fair to say that the astronomer only dreamed of perpetuating his name, but there is indirect evidence that Edwin liked to attract attention. There are photos where he poses cheerfully next to movie stars. Below we will talk about his attempts to “fix” the achievement at the laureate level, and thus also enter the history of cosmology.
Henrietta Leavitt Method
The famous British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, in his book A Brief History of Time, wrote that "the discovery that the Universe is expanding has become the greatest intellectual revolution of the 20th century." Hubble was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Mount Wilson Observatory was the center of observational work that underlies the new astrophysics (later called cosmology). The most powerful Hooker telescope on Earth then just went into operation.
But Hubble’s constant was unlikely to be discovered solely on the basis of luck. It required patience, perseverance, the ability to defeat scientific rivals. So the American astronomer Harlow Shapley proposed his model of the Galaxy. He was already known as a scientist who determined the size of the Milky Way. He widely applied the method of determining distances by Cepheids, using a method compiled in 1908 by Henrietta Swan Leavitt. She set the distance to the object, based on standard variations of light from bright stars (variable Cepheids).
Not dust and gas, but other galaxies
Harlow Shapley believed that the width of the galaxy is 300,000 light years (about ten times higher than the permissible value). However, Shapley, like most astronomers of that time, was sure: the Milky Way - this is the whole Universe. Despite the assumption first made by William Herschel in the eighteenth century, he shared the common belief that all nebulae for relatively nearby objects are just spots of dust and gas in the sky.
How many bitter, cold nights Hubble spent sitting at Hooker's powerful telescope before he could prove that Shapley was wrong. In October 1923, Edwin noticed an “erupted” object in M31 nebulae (the Andromeda constellation) and suggested that it did not belong to the Milky Way. After a careful study of photographic plates, on which the same area was previously captured by other astronomers, including Shapley, Edwin realized that it was Cepheid.
Space detected
Hubble used the Shapley method to measure the distance to a variable star. It turned out that it is estimated in millions of light years from Earth, which is far beyond the Milky Way. The galaxy itself contains millions of stars. The famous Universe expanded dramatically on the same day and - in a sense - the Cosmos itself was discovered!
The New York Times wrote: "Discovered spiral nebulae are stellar systems. Dr. Hubbel (as in the original) confirms the view that they are like" island universes "similar to our own." The discovery was of great importance to the astronomical world, but Hubble's greatest moment was yet to come.
No static
As we said, the victory for Copernicus No. 2 came in 1929, when he classified all known nebulae and measured their velocities from the spectra of emitted light. His astounding discovery that all galaxies are retreating from us with speeds increasing in proportion to their distance from the Milky Way shocked the world. Hubble’s law abolished the traditional idea of a static universe and showed that it itself is full of dynamics. Einstein himself bowed his head before such tremendous observation.
The author of the theory of relativity corrected his own equations, which justified the expansion of the universe. Now Hubble showed that Einstein was right. Hubble time is the reciprocal of the Hubble constant (t H = 1 / H). This is the characteristic time of the expansion of the Universe at the current moment.
Exploded and scattered
If the constant in 2016 is 66.93 ± 0.62 (km / s) / Mpc, then the expansion is currently characterized by the following figures: (4.61 ± 0.05) · 10 17 s or (14.610 ± 0.016) · 10 9 years. And again a bit of humor. Optimists say: it’s good that the galaxies are “scattering”. If we imagine that they are drawing closer together, sooner or later the Big Bang would come. But it was from him that the birth of the universe began.
The galaxies “rushed” (started moving) in different directions at the same time. If the removal rate were not proportional to the distance, the explosion theory is meaningless. Another derivative constant - the Hubble distance - is the product of time and the speed of light: D H = ct H = c / H. Currently - (1.382 ± 0.015) · 10 26 m or (14.610 ± 0.016) · 10 9 light years.
And again about the balloon. It is believed that even astronomers do not always correctly interpret the expansion of the universe. Some experts believe that it swells like a rubber ball, not knowing any physical restrictions. The galaxies themselves are not only moving away from us, but also randomly “scurrying around” inside the motionless clusters. Others claim that distant galaxies “float away” with fragments of the Big Bang, but they do it powerfully.
Could become a Nobel laureate
Hubble tried to get the Nobel Prize. In the late 1940s, he even hired an advertising agent (now he would be called a PR manager) to advance the business. But the efforts were in vain: there was no category for astronomers. Edwin died in 1953, in the course of scientific research. For several nights he observed extragalactic objects.
His last ambitious dream remained unfulfilled. But the scientist would certainly be glad that the space telescope was named in his honor. And generations of brothers in mind continue to explore the vast and wonderful space. It is still fraught with many mysteries. How many discoveries are ahead! And Hubble’s derivative constants will surely help some of the young scientists become Copernicus # 3.
Challenging Aristotle
What will be proved or refuted, as when the theory of the infinity, eternity and immutability of the space around the Earth, which Aristotle himself supported, flew to the nines. He attributed the universe symmetry and perfection. The cosmological principle has confirmed: everything flows, everything changes.
It is believed that in billions of years the heavens will be empty and dark. The expansion will “carry” the galaxies beyond the cosmic horizon, from where the light cannot reach us. Will the Hubble constant be relevant for an empty universe? What will become of cosmology with science? Will she disappear? These are all assumptions.
Redshift
In the meantime, the Hubble telescope has taken a picture that indicates: we are still far from universal emptiness. In the professional community, there is an opinion that the discovery of Edwin Hubble is valuable, but not his law. However, it was he who was almost immediately recognized in the scientific community of that time. Observations of the "red shift" not only won the right to exist, it is relevant in the 21st century.
And today, determining the distance to galaxies, they rely on the scientist’s super discovery. Optimists say: even if our galaxy remains the only one, we won’t have to “miss”. There will be billions of dwarf stars and planets. So, next to us there will still be “parallel worlds” that will need to be explored.