Hubble's law states that the universe is expanding with a velocity equals Hubble's constant*distance from earth. But, recent findings show that the Andromeda galaxy is actually blueshifting towards us and nearby stars and galaxies do show motion with respect to the Earth with so called peculiar velocities. What's the catch here? I am a beginner in this subject matter. Any help would be duly appreciated.
Answer
Hubble's law applies to the expansion of space itself, i.e., if two objects stationary to each other that had no force between them were left alone the distance between would increase with time because space itself is expanding. This is what Hubble's law addresses.
In the case of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies (and all galaxies for that matter) there is a force between them: gravity. The gravitational force between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies has produced an acceleration that is causing the two galaxies to be moving towards each other faster than the space between them is expanding as calculated by Hubble's law. However, the vast majority of galaxies lie far enough away from the Milky Way that the gravitational force between us and them is small compared to the Hubble expansion and Hubble's law dominates.
In short, Hubble's law applies throughout the universe, but localized systems may have enough gravitational attraction between them that the gravitational effects dominate.
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