From Atoms to Big Bang!

Hubble thinks about Cephied Stars

Pattern of cephieds identified by Henrietta Leavitt Cepheid variable stars show a pattern What is the pattern she identified?

Cepheid Variable Stars: Relationship between Period and Luminosity

Hubble observed a Cephied in the Andromeda Galaxy had a long period. PROBLEM the star was very dim
How do you make sense of this oddity??

Think about distance from light

Apparent brightness (luminosity) of a light is related to how far away it is.

Put these things together and you arrive at Hubbles first major insight:
Hubble observed a cephied in the Andromeda galaxy. The period indicated a very bright star (absolute brightness). But the star appeared to be much dimmer. Calculated distance required to dim the star that much.

Conclusion: Star cluster outside our own galaxy.

Radical Conclusion: there is more than 1 galaxy!

Hubbles 2nd observation:

The Hydrogen spectral fingerprint in distant galaxies is shifted toward the red end of the spectrum.

Interpretation: All galaxies are moving away from us!

 How does redshift = conclusion of moving away? Must understand Doppler Effect:

Doppler and Redshift:

This all brings us to the idea of a Big Bang origins for the Universe
Roll movie backwards, all matter must have been compressed extremely tightly together in the past. Point of compressed matter = Singularity AKA Primeval Fireball

Conditions of Singularity
Incredibly dense Extremely high pressure Extremely hot

Matter cannot exist All matter exists as ENERGY E=mc2