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理科同學一定了解「多普勃效應」。原來多普勃效應會在恒星和星系的光譜表現出來。20世紀初，埃德溫．哈勃和米爾頓．赫馬森（圖）憑測量遙遠星系的多普勃紅移，證明宇宙正在膨脹。
14歲的赫馬森還未中學畢業便跑到威爾遜山當騾夫，負責把木材運上山頂，興建當時世界最大的天文台。1917年，他幸運地填補該天文台的一個雜工空缺，隨後他更擔當晚間事務員，協助天文學家的觀測工作。他的勤快很快備受台長海爾讚賞，並決定把他擢升為天文台的科研職員。赫馬森從此肩負拍攝和分析星系光譜的工作，協助哈勃確證宇宙擴張和計算其年齡。
The Muleteer, the Astronomer
Physics students are familiar with the Doppler Effect. The Doppler Effect is also exhibited in the spectra of stars and distant galaxies. Edwin Hubble and Milton Humason of the early 20th century studied the Doppler Effect(red shift)of distant galaxies. They found that our universe was expanding.
At the age of 14, Milton Humason dropped out of school and became a mule driver, hauling lumber up the Mount Wilson to build the largest-scaled astronomical observatory at that moment. In 1917, he was lucky enough to get a job as a janitor at the observatory. Then he took up the role as a night assistant to astronomers. Hale appointed Humason as scientific staff of the observatory. Humason worked with Hubble together to measure the red shift of hundreds of distant galaxies and thus were able to determine the scale of distance and the age of the universe. ■圖片背景鳴謝：NASA及ESA 甄枝強 資深天文愛好者
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