High-Z Supernova Search
Table of ContentsThe Expanding Universe [1] [2] [3]
The Fate of the Universe
Supernovae
Type Ia Supernovae
Searching for Distant Type Ia Supernovae
Search Results
Search Conclusions
The Expanding Universe
Slipher's spectra represented a cosmic conundrum for astronomers of the day. Since the time of Copernicus, astronomers had believed that our place in the Universe was not special. Slipher's results appeared to place us in a very special place - the most unpopular place in the Universe from which all other objects were moving away.Slipher's results remained a mystery until Edwin Hubble used the newly completed 100 inch Mt Wilson telescope, then the world's most powerful telescope, to observe standard stars called Cepheids in Slipher's nebulae inorder to gauge their distances.
In 1929 Hubble announced his results. The spiral nebulae are galaxies like the Milky Way. The galaxies lie at great distances from the Milky Way. Not only are the galaxies around us moving away. The more distant galaxies are from us, the faster they are moving away from us. Hubble had discovered that the Universe was expanding.
