Which prize did Edwin Hubble receive in 1924?

In 1924, Edwin Hubble received the Newcomb Cleveland Prize. The American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded it for his influential astronomical research, including work on Cepheid variables in spiral nebulae.

The prize recognized Hubble’s use of Cepheid variables to measure cosmic distances. Because these stars have a relationship between pulsation period and intrinsic brightness, astronomers can compare their true brightness with their observed brightness. Hubble used this method to show that objects such as Andromeda lay far beyond the Milky Way.

The award is easily confused with Hubble’s later honors. He received the Bruce Medal in 1938, the Franklin Medal in 1939, and the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal in 1940. He did not receive the Nobel Prize during his lifetime, and the Copley Medal was not his 1924 award.

Hubble’s 1924 recognition came before his best-known 1929 work connecting galaxy distance with recession velocity. Together, those discoveries helped establish extragalactic astronomy and observational evidence for an expanding universe.