Calculating-the-Hubble-Constant

• A 1st year computing project for the undergraduate physics course at Imperial College London.
• Two real data sets (distances of planets from Earth and their Hydrogen spectral intensities) were given.
• Mean observed frequency for each planet (25 planets in total) was determined by plotting the spectral intensity (arbitrary units) against the observed frequency range (Hz), generating a linear gaussian fit, and finding the mean frequency of the Gaussian.
• The mean red shift velocity of each planet was calculated from its mean frequency value.
• The Hubble constant was determined by interpolating the slope of the graph of red shift velocity vs. distance from Earth.

Result:

• Experimental Hubble constant = 77 +/- 5 km/sMpc.
• Accepted value is roughly 72 km s^-1 Mpc^-1