Birth of Edwin Powell Hubble
Birth of Edwin Powell Hubble
Astronomer profile · World History Database
Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble played a central role in establishing the extragalactic scale of the universe. Observations of Cepheid variables in Andromeda helped demonstrate that the object was a separate galaxy far beyond the Milky Way.
Why Edwin Hubble matters in astronomy
Hubble’s work on the relation between galaxy distance and recession velocity became a cornerstone of observational cosmology. The space telescope later named after him vastly extended the observational programme he helped begin.
22matching database records
Hubble, EdwinName2, Name1 format
Edwin Hubble timeline in the database
Discovery of Nebulae
Hubble announces that nearly all nebulae are associated with stars, and their illumination comes from star light
Discovery of Cepheid Stars
Discovers a class of variable stars known as cephids existing outside our own galaxy
Cepheid Variables
Hubble identifies Cepheid variables in Andromeda and shows it lies beyond the Milky Way
Andromeda V1 Plate
Photographs M31 with the 100-inch Hooker telescope and records the star later recognized as Cepheid variable V1 on the famous VAR photographic plate.
Discovery of Cepheid Stars
Hubble establishes the distance to Cepheid variables in the Andromeda Galaxy, showing that Andromeda lies beyond the Milky Way and helping settle the Island Universe debate.
Island Universe
Settles the Island Universe debate which was concerned with whether the Milky Way and the Universe were synonymous, or was the Milky Way merely one in a plethora of galaxies that constitutes the Universe
Galaxies
Hubble announces evidence that spiral nebulae are external galaxies, expanding the scale of cosmology
Cepheid Variables Confirmed in Andromeda
Identifies multiple Cepheid variables in M31 and uses their periods to demonstrate that Andromeda is far outside the Milky Way.
Classification of Galaxies
Introduces the classification of galaxies as spirals, barred spirals & ellipticals
Andromeda Extragalactic Result Presented
Presents the Andromeda Cepheid evidence to the astronomical community, establishing M31 as a separate galaxy and greatly enlarging the known scale of the universe.
Hubbles Law
Hubble and Milton L. Humason formulate what is now known as Hubbles law by combining Cepheid distances to several galaxies with Vesto Sliphers measurements of the speed at which those galaxies recede from us
Hubbles Law
The redshift in light coming from distant galaxies is proportional to their distance, the law is first formulated by Edwin Hubble and Milton Humason after nearly a decade of observations. Discovers Hubbles Law
Expanding Universe
Hubble publishes the velocity distance relation that makes expanding relativistic cosmology observationally compelling
Hubbles Law
Hubble publishes the velocity distance relation showing that galaxies recede faster at greater distances
Asteroid 1373 Cincinnati
Discovers asteroid 1373 Cincinnati
Royal Astronomical Society
Winner of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
Death of Edwin Powell Hubble
Death of Edwin Powell Hubble
Big Bang
Cosmological redshift is now conventionally understood to be a consequence of the expansion of space; a feature of Big Bang cosmology
Hubbles Law
Baade's revised Cepheid calibration doubles the extragalactic distance scale and improves measurements used to estimate the expansion rate of the universe.
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) also known colloquially as "the Hubble" or just "Hubble", is a space telescope that is carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery, named for the American astronomer Edwin Hubble
Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Astronomers unveil the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, a million-second exposure revealing galaxies seen when the universe was only several hundred million years old.
Related astronomy topics
Sources and editorial provenance
Compiled and edited by World History Database
Historical chronology compiled from the World History Database and checked against major scientific and historical reference sources.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
- Royal Museums Greenwich — History of astronomy
- Royal Museums Greenwich — History of the telescope
- NASA Science — Hubble timeline
- NASA Science — Exoplanet discovery history
- LIGO — GW150914 first gravitational-wave detection
- Event Horizon Telescope — first black-hole image
- NASA Webb — mission science and discoveries