M100 and the Expanding Universe
Explanation:
The distance to the swirling grand design
spiral
M100 is causing quite a
stir among astronomers. Many believe that the
Hubble Space Telescope's
recent distance measurement to this galaxy accurately calibrates the
expansion rate of the
universe. Others believe this distance
measurement is misleading. The universe's expansion rate is usually given
as a quantity called
"
Hubble's constant", a factor dividing
well-measured recession velocity of a galaxy to give actual distance.
Scientific debate over the value of
Hubble's
constant has been ongoing since it was first measured by
Edwin Hubble in 1929. A real live debate involving the value of
Hubble's constant titled
"
The Scale of the Universe" will occur in April
1996 in Washington, DC.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
