What did Edwin Hubble prove about the faint, fuzzy spiral nebulae he studied early on?
They were entirely separate island universes, or galaxies, lying far beyond our own.
Edwin Hubble's initial groundbreaking work involved studying faint, fuzzy spiral nebulae that were previously thought by many scientists to be merely structures within the Milky Way. His meticulous measurements, often utilizing Cepheid variable stars within these nebulae, conclusively demonstrated that these structures were, in fact, entire galaxies existing independently and situated at immense distances far outside the confines of our own Milky Way. This finding instantly expanded the perceived scale of the universe from a relatively contained structure spanning thousands of light-years to one encompassing millions of light-years, shattering the previous scientific consensus regarding cosmic boundaries.

#Videos
Hubble Catches Intermediate-Sized Black Hole - YouTube