June 21, 1998
Another year older means another lap aboard a world spinning through the void at impossible speed.
Edwin Hubble Discovers the Universe
Birthday · June 21, 1998
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published June 21, 1998. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
No person in history has had greater impact in determining the extent of our universe than Edwin Hubble. From proving that other galaxies existed to proving that galaxies move apart from one another, Hubble's work defined our place in the cosmos. Hubble lived from 1889 to 1953 and is shown above posing with the 48-inch telescope on Palomar Mountain and his famous pipe. In memory of his great work, the Orbiting Space Telescope was named after him. The rate of the universe's expansion is now parameterized by a quantity known as Hubble's constant. A modern debate on the value of Hubble's constant took place in 1996.