Shapley–Curtis debate

E885682

astronomical debate historical event scientific controversy

The Shapley–Curtis debate was a famous 1920 astronomical discussion between Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis over the scale of the universe and the nature of spiral nebulae, which helped shape modern cosmology.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Great Debate (Shapley–Curtis debate)	1
Shapley–Curtis debate on the scale of the universe	1

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	astronomical debate ⓘ historical event ⓘ scientific controversy ⓘ
arguedBy	Harlow Shapley NERFINISHED ⓘ Heber Doust Curtis NERFINISHED ⓘ
category	1920 in science ⓘ History of astronomy ⓘ Scientific debates ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
CurtisPosition	Milky Way is relatively small NERFINISHED ⓘ Sun is near the center of the Milky Way ⓘ spiral nebulae are external galaxies ⓘ
date	1920-04-26 ⓘ
documentedIn	Bulletin of the National Research Council NERFINISHED ⓘ
field	astronomy ⓘ cosmology ⓘ
followedBy	acceptance of galaxies as external systems ⓘ
hasAftermath	eventual consensus that spiral nebulae are galaxies ⓘ refinement of the size of the Milky Way ⓘ
hasParticipant	Harlow Shapley NERFINISHED ⓘ Heber Doust Curtis NERFINISHED ⓘ
hasTitle	The Scale of the Universe NERFINISHED ⓘ
historicalContext	pre-Hubble period of extragalactic distance scale ⓘ
impact	shift from Milky Way–centric universe to galaxy universe model ⓘ
influenced	extragalactic astronomy ⓘ modern cosmology ⓘ understanding of galaxies ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
location	National Academy of Sciences NERFINISHED ⓘ Washington, D.C. ⓘ
mainSubject	nature of spiral nebulae ⓘ scale of the universe ⓘ structure of the Milky Way ⓘ
organizer	National Academy of Sciences NERFINISHED ⓘ
partOf	Great Debate (astronomy) NERFINISHED ⓘ
preceded	Edwin Hubble’s discovery of Cepheids in Andromeda ⓘ
ShapleyPosition	Milky Way is very large NERFINISHED ⓘ Sun is far from the center of the Milky Way ⓘ spiral nebulae are part of the Milky Way ⓘ
topic	distance to spiral nebulae ⓘ position of the Sun in the Galaxy ⓘ size of the Milky Way ⓘ status of spiral nebulae as island universes ⓘ
usedEvidence	Cepheid variable stars NERFINISHED ⓘ globular cluster distribution ⓘ novae in spiral nebulae ⓘ
year	1920 ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Harlow Shapley → knownFor → Shapley–Curtis debate ⓘ

Harlow Shapley → participantIn → Shapley–Curtis debate ⓘ

this entity surface form: Great Debate (Shapley–Curtis debate)

Harlow Shapley → participantIn → Shapley–Curtis debate ⓘ

this entity surface form: Shapley–Curtis debate on the scale of the universe