Portal:Louisville/Selected biography/9
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Edwin Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer. In his younger days, he was noted more for his athletic prowess rather than his intellectual abilities, although he did earn good grades in every subject, except for spelling. Using the Hooker Telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory, Hubble identified a star type in several objects, including the Andromeda Galaxy, that, at the time were known as "nebulae" and had been assumed to lie within the Milky Way. His observations in 1923–1924 conclusively proved that these objects were much more distant than previously thought and were hence galaxies themselves, rather than constituents of the Milky Way. Announced on January 1, 1925, this discovery fundamentally changed the view of the universe.
He worked as a high school teacher and a basketball coach at New Albany High School in New Albany, Indiana (near Louisville), and was a member of the Kentucky bar, although he reportedly never actually practiced law in Kentucky. He served in World War I and quickly advanced to the rank of major.
