When was the beginning?
Let's consider the Hubble law.
To simplify our thinking, it is convenient to change the units of the
Hubble constant H0. Approximately
H0 = 0.1 /Gy
where Gy = gigayears = 109 years.
Recall that the value of the Hubble constant is rather uncertain. The
``compromise'' value suggested by your book, 75 km/s/Mpc is 0.077 /Gy
in these units.
Example
Suppose that a galaxy is 200 Mly away. How fast is it going?
- v = H0 r
- v = (0.1 /Gy) x (200 Mly)
- v = 20 Mly/Gy
Suppose that a galaxy is 1.3 Gly away. How fast is it going?
- v = H0 r
- v = (0.1 /Gy) x (1.3 Gly)
- v = 0.13 Gly/Gy
[Note: this is 13% of the speed of light. If we get to distances beyond
this and velocities faster than this, we should really use the Hubble
Law generalized to the General Theory of Relativity. We aren't going
to do that in ASTR123, but you should know that there are corrections
for very big distances and for velocities comparable to the velocity
of light.]
So when did it all start?
Consider Galaxy X at a distance of 100 Mly from us.
Use H0 = 0.1 /Gy.
Then the velocity of Galaxy away from us is
v = H0 r = (0.1 /Gy) x 100 Mly = 10 Mly/Gy
Assumption: Galaxy X has always been moving away from us at
this speed.
With this assumption, the time since we would have been in the same
place as the material in Galaxy X is
time = distance/velocity
t = r/v
That is
t = 100 Mly / (10 Mly/Gy)
or
t = 10 Gy
You will get the same number for Galaxy Y at a distance of 300 Mly from
us, for Galaxy Z at a distance of 500 Mly from us, etc. (Try it.)
Conclusion
Assuming the expansion has been at the same rate always, the
expansion started 10 billion years ago. (The number is approximate
because the Hubble constant is not so well known.)
Davison E. Soper, Institute of Theoretical Science,
University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403 USA
soper@bovine.uoregon.edu