Theories in Physics: The Expansion of the Universe by Edwin Hubble

The Big Bang is what many scientists believe began our universe. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it is helpful to imagine the Big Bang as a massive explosion that sent cosmic matter into all the crevices of our universe and from there stars began to be born, planets formed, little organisms first came into existence, and slowly so did the first human. This theory however is also interpreted in a different direction by some physicists, which is that the Big Bang in actuality was the ending of a universe before our own. If this is true, then it may lead to answers about the expansion of the universe, a phenomenon that scientists have recently began to understand slightly.

Edwin Hubble was one of these scientists. Hubble’s contributions to the human understanding of outer space is considered to be unmatched by any astronomer, and his research regarding the expansion of the universe is truly mind-turning. In 1929 Edwin Hubble conducted a survey of the night sky, his findings showed that all galaxies far away from our own, recede away from the Earth, and the further the galaxy is the faster it will recede.

According to Einstein’s theories of relativity this would mean that the universe is expanding onto itself. In other words, the universe is expanding at a rate that is so quick that it creating more space as it expands. This is the beginning of research done by astrophysicists today that are pushing the boundaries of research to determine what lies beyond our universe. If there is nothing then will we one day be caught in a big bang as well? If there is something then what could it be? Another universe perhaps where superheroes are real? Or maybe one where animals control humans?

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows one of the galaxies in the survey to refine the measurement for how fast the universe expands with time, called the Hubble constant. Credits: NASA, ESA and A. Riess (STScI/JHU)