The Discovery of the Universe

So what is Space? Well the simple answer is we don't fully know. What we do know however is that every single day new discoveries are being made in order to aid in the understanding of this question. This blog therefore will explain what we have learned over the past 95 years since we discovered the universe and will go into depth into what discoveries and findings we have made over this time. 

[1] Our Solar System 

January 1st 1925 - When the Universe was Discovered 

On January 1st 1925, Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer discovered that the milky way (our own galaxy) was not the only existing galaxy to exist within space and in fact proved we lived in an ever expanding universe. The then thirty five year old scientist helped astronomers around the world understand that we are in an ever expanding universe that consists of billions of galaxies that continuously move further away from each other. Hubbles concept therefore "lies at the heart of our modern cosmology, in which the entire universe - space, time and matter - is thought to have been born in the big bang" [2].

The Hubble Space Telescope

Named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble, the Hubble Space Telescope was designed to further the late astronomers discoveries and gain a better understanding on what exactly exists within our universe. Facing towards outer space, the telescopes sole purpose is to observe stars, cosmets, planets and galaxies and was launched into space's atmosphere in April 24th 1990. It is considered to be one of the most appreciated satelittes that still orbits our planet today and continues to bring images to  analyse. One of Hubble's greatest findings (seen below) was the 'deep field' view taken in 1995 which showed thousands and thousands of galaxies which consisted of billions of stars each within 24-millionth view of our sky 

[3] Deep Field image taken in 1995 by the Space Hubble Telescope 

References:

[1] giphy.com. [n.d.]. Sun Planets GIF by NASA. [Online]. Available at: https://giphy.com/gifs/nasa-nasagif-tess-APq0WQXgQQrKFcBbjP [Last Accessed 06/10/2020]

[2] Byrd, D. [2018]. Today in Science: Edwin Hubble and the expanding universe. [Online]. Available at: https://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-edwin-hubble-and-the-expanding-universe [Accessed 06/10/2020].

[3] spacetelescope.org.uk. [2020]. The Hubble Deep Fields. [Online]. Available at: https://www.spacetelescope.org/science/deep_fields/ [Last Accessed 06/10/2020]

Wild, F. [2020]. What is the Hubble Space Telescope?. [Online]. Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-the-hubble-space-telecope-k4.html [Accessed 06/10/2020].