What was the prevailing scientific view regarding the extent of the cosmos before Hubble's 1924 announcement about M31?

Answer

Everything observable existed within the confines of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Prior to Edwin Hubble’s groundbreaking work resolving individual stars in the Andromeda Nebula, the widely accepted scientific consensus held a very restrictive view of the cosmos. The entirety of what was considered the universe consisted solely of the stars and components contained within the Milky Way galaxy. This perspective drastically limited humanity’s cosmic address. Hubble’s calculation, demonstrating that the Andromeda Nebula was external and millions of light-years distant, shattered this established boundary. This monumental shift redefined the scale of existence, transforming the Milky Way from *the* universe into just *our* galaxy among countless others.

What was the prevailing scientific view regarding the extent of the cosmos before Hubble's 1924 announcement about M31?

Related Questions

What instrument allowed Edwin Hubble to resolve individual stars within the Andromeda Nebula (M31)?What specific distance measurement tool, relying on Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s discovery, did Hubble use on Andromeda?What primary visual categories define the Hubble Classification Scheme developed by 1926?In the equation for Hubble’s Law, $v = H_0 d$, what specific quantity does the symbol $H_0$ represent?What initial value for the proportionality factor did Hubble publish in his 1929 compilation of distance and velocity data?What crucial preliminary observation did Vesto Slipher provide that hinted at the nature of distant nebulae?How did Edwin Hubble characterize his own scientific role when discussing the interpretation of expanding universe observations?Which scientist provided the theoretical framework, utilizing General Relativity, that predicted the distance-velocity relationship observed by Hubble?What was the prevailing scientific view regarding the extent of the cosmos before Hubble's 1924 announcement about M31?What is the modern cosmological debate known as the Hubble Tension?
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