how was the shapley-curtis debate resolved? how was the shapley-curtis debate resolved? harlow shapley won the debate stating that the spiral nebulae were within our own milky way galaxy. astronomer edwin hubble was able to determine that the distance to a variable star in the andromeda nebula was over a million light-years away. herber curtis won the debate by stating that the spiral nebulae were independent galaxies. the debate has yet to be resolved.