Making the Diagram

Explore 6: Use a graphing program such as Microsoft Excel or Graphical Analysis to make a Hubble diagram for the six galaxies you studied in Explore 4 and 5. Put magnitude on the x-axis and redshift on the y-axis. What does your diagram look like?

For help with Excel, see SkyServer’s Graphing and Analyzing Data tutorial.

The points in your diagram should roughly connect to form a straight line. If you want to quantify how close your graph is to being a straight line, see how to add a trendline to your Hubble diagram.

Question 3. Compare your Hubble diagram to the diagram you made for the dots on an expanding balloon. How are they similar? How are they different? Based on the graphs, do you think an expanding balloon is a good model for the real universe?

Click Next to learn how to interpret your Hubble diagram.