Born in Marshfield, Missouri in 1889, dying in 1953, Hubble moved to Wheaton, Illinois at one years old. Edwin Hubble was born to an insurance executive for a father and a stay at home mother. In his early years Hubble was known more for athletic abilities, winning many awards and even setting state records. When he graduated high school he attended the University of Chicago and focused on mathematics and astronomy. From Chicago he went on to Oxford to further his studies and to complete a masters degree. When Hubble returned to America he did so to take care of his family because his father passed away. His family had moved to Louisville, Kentucky and began so he began teaching at the local high school. After just one year Hubble quit teaching and moved himself back to Chicago so he could use the Yerkes Observatory. As WW1 broke out to full scale war Hubble even served in the army and achieved the rank of Major. Afterwards, Hubble was offered a seat at the Mount Wilson observatory, the best telescopes were there at the time. It was here that Hubble would make the ground breaking discoveries he is most known for.
The first truly big discovery made by Hubble was just how big the universe really was. Using the brand new 100inch diameter Hooker Telescope, Hubble found Cepheid Variables, discovered by Henrietta Levette, in far off nebulae. He used these Cepheid Variables to measure distance and what he discovered went against all previous knowledge of the universe. He discovered that some of the things classified as Nebulae were actually far off galaxies! These galaxies were theorized to be at distance that were before inconceivable. Eventually getting his data published in 1925, Hubble nearly over night opened up the universe to something much larger and full secrets. With this now accepted as fact, Hubble moved on to classifying these fuzzy galaxies and the system he devised based on appearance is the one we use today.
The second great thing Hubble is known for is the expansion on the idea of red shift, and in turn the Doppler effect. It had already been theorized that everything was moving away from everything else, and now this included galaxies. Using the Cepheid Variables and work done by other astronomers, Hubble was able to guesstimate about how fast each galaxy was moving away from himself and his galaxy. By using the red shift and other mathematical equations, Hubble came up with the speed of 500 km/s/Mpc, also know as the Hubble constant. With this data now known and confirmed, Hubble also was giving the first real piece of evidence to support the Big Bang Theory.
Overall Hubble was able to be at the right place at the right time and have the right idea to make his name a household name. Now, with the Hubble telescope producing the most beautiful images ever seen before in humanity, his name and his life will live on history for 1000s of years to come.
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