哈伯(1889～1953年)

Hubble, Edwin P(owell)

美国天文学家。出生於美国密苏里州马什菲，在芝加哥大学获得数学与天文学的学位，稍後短时间进入法律界，再回到天文界。在获得博士学位之後，开始在威尔逊山天文台工作。1922～1924年他发现含有造父变星的一些星云，测定其在数十万光年之遥（在银河系之外），星云所在的位置显然是在其他的星系里面。研究这些星系得出第二个重大的发现（1927），这些星系离银河系远去，後退速率随距离而增加。这意味着宇宙正在膨胀，虽然长久一直认为宇宙是不变的；更惊人的是，星系速率相对於距离的比值是常数（参阅Hubble's constant）。哈伯计算的常数并不正确，结果使银河系比其他星系都要大，整个宇宙的年龄小於地球推测的形成年代。後来天文学家确定星系更加遥远，解决了上述的矛盾。

English version：

1889～1953年

Hubble, Edwin P(owell)

U.S. astronomer. Born in Marshfield, Mo., he earned a degree in mathematics and astronomy at the University of Chicago, then made a brief foray into law before returning to astronomy. After earning his Ph.D. he began working at Mount Wilson Observatory. In 1922-24 he discovered that certain nebulae contained Cepheid variables; he determined that these were several hundred thousand light-years away (outside the Milky Way galaxy) and that the nebulae they were in were actually other galaxies. In studying those galaxies he made his second remarkable discovery (1927): that the galaxies were receding from the Milky Way at rates that increased with distance. This implied that the universe, long considered unchanging, was expanding; even more remarkable, the ratio of the galaxies' speed to their distance was a constant (see Hubble's constant). Hubble's calculation of the constant was incorrect; it made the Milky Way larger than all other galaxies and the entire universe younger than the surmised age of earth. Later astronomers determined that galaxies were systematically more distant, resolving the discrepancy.