Creation of The Universe and The Big Bang Theory
Creation of The Universe and The Big Bang Theory
Creation of The Universe and The Big Bang Theory
Universe and
the Big Bang
Theory
What is the Big Bang Theory?
The most popular theory for how the universe came into being is called the Big
Bang Theory. Simply described, it states that the universe as we currently
understand it originated from an unimaginably hot and dense single point and
expanded over the course of 13.8 billion years, first at unbelievable rates and
subsequently at a more measured rate. The majority of what we know about the
Big Bang comes from mathematical formulas and models because current
technology does not yet allow astronomers to look back at the creation of the
universe.
Although the Big Bang theory is accepted by the majority of astronomers, some
theorists have proposed other theories instead, including everlasting inflation and
an oscillating cosmos.However, the cosmic microwave background, a
phenomenon, allows astronomers to observe the expansion's "echo." Although the
Big Bang theory is accepted by the most of astronomers, some have proposed
other theories instead, including everlasting inflation and an oscillating cosmos.
The Big Bang: The Birth of the Universe
Everything in the cosmos was compressed into a singularity, a point of
infinite heat and density, around 13.7 billion years ago. Our cosmos
suddenly began to expand explosively, expanding faster than the speed of
light. According to physicist Alan Guth's 1980 theory that forever
transformed the way we think about the Big Bang, there was a time of
cosmic inflation that lasted only a few hundredths of a second, or
approximately 10-32 of a second. The more traditional explanations of the
Big Bang began to take root when cosmic inflation abruptly and
mysteriously came to a stop.Our universe's current constituents, including
particles, atoms, the material that would eventually give rise to stars and
galaxies, etc., began filling it during a flood of matter and radiation known
as "reheating."
Next Slide
According to NASA, all of this occurred during the
first second after the universe was created, when
everything was still incredibly hot at a
temperature of roughly 10 billion degrees
Fahrenheit (5.5 billion degrees Celsius) (opens in
new tab). The basic materials that would later
become the components of everything that is
there today, such as neutrons, electrons, and
protons, were present in the universe at this
time. It would have been impossible to truly see
through this early "soup," as it was unable to
contain visible light. According to NASA, "the Hubble images show the far-distant galaxy GN-z11 as it
unbound electrons would have caused light was soon after the Big Bang
(photons) to scatter in the same manner that
sunlight scatters from water droplets in clouds."
However, over time, these free electrons collided with nuclei to form neutral atoms, or
atoms with an equal number of positive and negative electric charges. This allowed light
to finally shine through, about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. Next Slide
Sometimes called the "afterglow" of the Big Bang, this light is more properly known
as the cosmic microwave background (CMB). It was first predicted by Ralph Alpher
and other scientists in 1948 but was found only by accident almost 20 years later.