Hubble's law

Meaning

1. 1proper nounproper

   The observation that galaxies recede from us at speeds proportional to their distance, which shows the universe is expanding.

   Grammar: Always capitalized and used without an or the: Hubble's law states that...

   Patterns

   • Hubble's law states that
   • according to Hubble's law

   According to Hubble's law, a galaxy twice as far away moves away twice as fast.

   Hubble's law gave astronomers strong evidence that space is expanding.

   The class used Hubble's law to estimate the age of the universe.

Common combinations

Hubble's law states

Hubble's law states that distance and recession speed rise together.

according to Hubble's law

According to Hubble's law, distant galaxies recede faster.

test Hubble's law

Astronomers test Hubble's law with new telescope data.

Hubble's law and redshift

Hubble's law links redshift to distance.

apply Hubble's law

You can apply Hubble's law to estimate a galaxy's distance.

Synonyms and how they differ

Hubble-Lemaître law

Hubble-Lemaitre law is the newer name that also credits Georges Lemaitre, who proposed the relationship earlier.

cosmic expansion

Cosmic expansion is the general idea that the universe grows, while Hubble's law is the specific relation between distance and speed.

Word family

Hubble constant noun

the number that gives how fast expansion increases with distance

redshift noun

the stretching of light from moving galaxies

expansion noun

the growth of the universe over time

Hubble telescope noun

a space telescope named after Edwin Hubble

Commonly confused: Hubble's law or Hubble Space Telescope?

Practice

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