The search for the Hubble constant
A one hour talk that describes Hubble’s discovery of the red shift of galaxy light, Hubble’s law and the expansion of the Universe. It explains how astronomers calculate the distance of a galaxy and its redshift velocity. The talk discusses how the value of the Hubble constant has changed over time as our techniques and data collection have improved. It also describes the current discrepancy between the measured value of the Hubble constant and its calculated value that takes into account the current cosmological model.
Image credit: Dept. of Physics, Gettysburg College Gettysburg PA, USA
The age of the Universe
The workshop allows students to use The Virtual Educational Observatory, VIREO, a simulated astronomical observatory which provides a realistic environment for modern research techniques. The VIREO telescope is equipped with a CCD camera, an aperture photometer, a single-slit spectrometer and a multi-object spectrometer. Students analyse the light spectra of galaxies, plot the redshift velocity vs distance graph and calculate the Hubble constant and the age of the Universe.
Duration: 1.5 hours
Student ages: 14-18 years old
School must provide: computers with the VIREO software installed beforehand
Number of participants: 30 students maximum
Skills gained: knowledge of Hubble’s law, Hubble constant, age of Universe