Obtaining the Age of the Universe

by Andrew Shatzer

 

Submitted : Spring 2013

I began by using the VIREO telescope simulator program to observe extra-galactic object’s (galaxy’s) apparent magnitude and redshift. By using these two important datasets, I was able to work out their distance from the Earth in parsecs and their recessional velocity in km/sec. I then converted the data into Mega-parsecs and averaged the redshift velocities of the H and K lines of calcium and plotted these datasets on a graph with Distance (D) in Mega-parsecs on the x axis and Velocity (V) in km/sec along the y axis. I then used the same technique as Hubble to find a minimized correlation in the data points known as a Squared Error of Regression Line to create a trend-line in the data. Using a random point on the trend-line, I was able to work out the Hubble constant (V/D), convert it to Hubble Time (by cancelling out km’s/Mpc), take the inverse (1/H), and work out the age of the universe in seconds, which could then easily be converted to years.

Related Links: