the big bang essay

What is the Big Bang Theory?

The Big Bang Theory explains how the universe began.

The birth of the universe

• Big Bang theory FAQs

Modelling the Big Bang

• How old is the universe?

What are gravitational waves?

• Expansion vs explosion

The expansion of the universe

Jwst and the big bang.

• The "Big Bang Theory" TV show

Additional resources

The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation for how the universe began. Simply put, it says the universe as we know it started with an infinitely hot and dense single point that inflated and stretched — first at unimaginable speeds, and then at a more measurable rate — over the next 13.7 billion years to the still-expanding cosmos that we know today.

Existing technology doesn't yet allow astronomers to literally peer back at the universe's birth, much of what we understand about the Big Bang comes from mathematical formulas and models. Astronomers can, however, see the "echo" of the expansion through a phenomenon known as the cosmic microwave background .

While the majority of the astronomical community accepts the theory, there are some theorists who have alternative explanations besides the Big Bang — such as eternal inflation or an oscillating universe.

Related: What happened before the Big Bang?

Around 13.7 billion years ago, everything in the entire universe was condensed in an infinitesimally small singularity, a point of infinite denseness and heat. 

Suddenly, an explosive expansion began, ballooning our universe outwards faster than the speed of light . This was a period of cosmic inflation that lasted mere fractions of a second — about 10^-32 of a second, according to physicist Alan Guth’s 1980 theory that changed the way we think about the Big Bang forever. 

When cosmic inflation came to a sudden and still-mysterious end, the more classic descriptions of the Big Bang took hold. A flood of matter and radiation, known as "reheating," began populating our universe with the stuff we know today: particles, atoms, the stuff that would become stars and galaxies and so on.

This all happened within just the first second after the universe began, when the temperature of everything was still insanely hot, at about 10 billion degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 billion Celsius), according to NASA . The cosmos now contained a vast array of fundamental particles such as neutrons, electrons and protons — the raw materials that would become the building blocks for everything that exists today.

This early "soup" would have been impossible to actually see because it couldn't hold visible light. "The free electrons would have caused light (photons) to scatter the way sunlight scatters from the water droplets in clouds," NASA stated. Over time, however, these free electrons met up with nuclei and created neutral atoms or atoms with equal positive and negative electric charges. 

This allowed light to finally shine through, about 380,000 years after the Big Bang.

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 .

Related: Peering back to the Big Bang & early universe

This accidental discovery happened when Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, both of Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey, were building a radio receiver in 1965 and picked up higher-than-expected temperatures, according to a NASA article . At first, they thought the anomaly was due to pigeons trying to roost inside the antenna and their waste, but they cleaned up the mess and killed the pigeons and the anomaly persisted.

Simultaneously, a Princeton University team led by Robert Dicke was trying to find evidence of the CMB and realized that Penzias and Wilson had stumbled upon it with their strange observations. The two groups each published papers in the Astrophysical Journal in 1965.

Big Bang theory FAQs answered by an expert

We asked Jason Steffens, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a few frequently asked questions about the Big Bang Theory. 

Jason Steffens is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Has the Big Bang Theory been proven?

This isn't really a statement that we can make in general. The best we can do is say that there is strong evidence for the Big Bang Theory and that every test we throw at it comes back in support of the theory. Mathematicians prove things, but scientists can only say that the evidence supports a theory with some degree of confidence that is always less than 100%.

So, a short answer to a slightly different question is that all of the observational evidence that we've gathered is consistent with the predictions of the Big Bang Theory. The three most important observations are:

1) The Hubble Law shows that distant objects are receding from us at a rate proportional to their distance — which occurs when there is uniform expansion in all directions. This implies a history where everything was closer together.

2) The properties of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). This shows that the universe went through a transition from an ionized gas (a plasma) and a neutral gas. Such a transition implies a hot, dense early universe that cooled as it expanded. This transition happened after about 400,000 years following the Big Bang.

3) The relative abundances of light elements (He-4, He-3, Li-7, and Deuterium). These were formed during the era of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. Their abundances show that the universe was really hot and really dense in the past (as opposed to the conditions when the CMB was formed, which was just regular hot and dense — there's about a factor of a million difference in temperature between when BBN occurred and when the CMB occurred).

Is there any occurrence that contradicts the Big Bang Theory?

Not that I know of. There are some issues that arise with the simplest model of the Big Bang, but those can be resolved by invoking a physical process that is still consistent with the basic premise of the Big Bang Theory. Specifically, the fact that the CMB temperature is the same everywhere, that the universe does not appear to have any curvature, and that density fluctuations from quantum mechanical predictions do not produce galaxy clusters of the right size and shape today. These three issues are resolved with the theory of inflation — which is part of the broader Big Bang Theory.

When was the Big Bang Theory established?

Who came up with the idea?

Hubble was really the person who set up the observations. Evidence continued to mount, especially in the 1970s with the detection of the CMB. The term "Big Bang" was first used in the late 1940s by the astronomer Fred Hoyle — eventually, it caught on in the 1970s.

Because we can't see it directly, scientists have been trying to figure out how to "see" the Big Bang through other measures. In one case, cosmologists are pressing rewind to reach the first instant after the Big Bang by simulating 4,000 versions of the current universe on a massive supercomputer. 

"We are trying to do something like guessing a baby photo of our universe from the latest picture," study leader Masato Shirasaki, a cosmologist at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), told our sister website Live Science . 

With what is known about the universe today, the researchers in this 2021 study compared their understanding of how gravitational forces interacted in the primordial universe with their thousands of computer-modeled universes. If they could predict the starting conditions of their virtual universes, they hoped to be able to accurately predict what our own universe may have looked like back at the beginning. 

Other researchers have chosen different paths to interrogate our universe's beginnings. 

In a 2020 study, researchers did so by investigating the split between matter and antimatter. In the study, not yet peer-reviewed, they proposed that the imbalance in the amount of matter and antimatter in the universe is related to the universe's vast quantities of dark matter, an unknown substance that exerts influence over gravity and yet doesn't interact with light. They suggested that in the crucial moments immediately after the Big Bang, the universe may have been pushed to make more matter than its inverse, antimatter, which then could have led to the formation of dark matter .

The age of the universe

The CMB has been observed by many researchers now and with many spacecraft missions. One of the most famous space-faring missions to do so was NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, which mapped the sky in the 1990s.

Several other missions have followed in COBE's footsteps, such as the BOOMERanG experiment (Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics), NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and the European Space Agency's Planck satellite .

Planck's observations, first released in 2013, mapped the CMB in unprecedented detail and revealed that the universe was older than previously thought: 13.82 billion years old, rather than 13.7 billion years old. The research observatory's mission is ongoing and new maps of the CMB are released periodically.

Related: How old is the universe?

The maps give rise to new mysteries, however, such as why the Southern Hemisphere appears slightly redder (warmer) than the Northern Hemisphere. The Big Bang Theory says that the CMB would be mostly the same, no matter where you look.

Examining the CMB also gives astronomers clues as to the composition of the universe. Researchers think most of the cosmos is made up of matter and energy that cannot be "sensed" with our conventional instruments, leading to the names " dark matter " and " dark energy ." It is thought that only 5% of the universe is made up of matter such as planets, stars and galaxies .

While astronomers study the universe's beginnings through creative measures and mathematical simulations, they've also sought proof of its rapid inflation. They have done this by observing gravitational waves , tiny perturbations in space-time that ripple outwards from great disturbances like, for instance, two colliding black holes or the universe's birth.

According to leading theories, in the first second after the universe was born, our cosmos ballooned faster than the speed of light . (That, by the way, does not violate Albert Einstein's speed limit. He once said that light speed is the fastest anything can travel within the universe — but that statement did not apply to the inflation of the universe itself.)

As the universe expanded, it created the CMB and a similar "background noise" made up of gravitational waves that, like the CMB, were a sort of static, detectable from all parts of the sky. Those gravitational waves, according to the LIGO Scientific Collaboration , produced a theorized barely-detectable polarization, one type of which is called "B-modes."

In 2014, astronomers said they had found evidence of B-modes using an Antarctic telescope called "Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization," or BICEP2.

"We're very confident that the signal that we're seeing is real, and it's on the sky," lead researcher John Kovac, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told Space.com in March 2014.

But by June, the same team said that their findings could have been altered by galactic dust getting in the way of their field of view. That hypothesis was supported by new results from the Planck satellite.

By January 2015, researchers from both teams working together "confirmed that the Bicep signal was mostly, if not all, stardust," the New York Times said .

However, since then gravitational waves have not only been confirmed to exist, they have been observed multiple times. 

These waves, which are not B-modes from the birth of the universe but rather from more recent collisions of black holes, have been detected multiple times by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), with the first-ever gravitational wave detection taking place in 2016. 

A major gravitational wave breakthrough was announced on June 28, 2023 when teams of scientists around the world reported the discovery of a "low-pitch hum" of these cosmic ripples flowing through the Milky Way. While astronomers don't definitively know what's causing the hum, the detected signal is "compelling evidence" and consistent with theoretical expectations of gravitational waves emerging from copious pairs of "the most massive black holes in the entire universe" weighing as much as billions of  suns , said Stephen Taylor, a gravitational wave astrophysicist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee who co-led the research.

Read more: The gravitational wave background of the universe has been heard for the 1st time

Was the Big Bang an explosion?

Although the Big Bang is often described as an "explosion", that's a misleading image. In an explosion, fragments are flung out from a central point into a pre-existing space. If you were at the central point, you'd see all the fragments moving away from you at roughly the same speed. 

But the Big Bang wasn't like that. It was an expansion of space itself – a concept that comes out of Einstein's equations of general relativity but has no counterpart in the classical physics of everyday life. It means that all the distances in the universe are stretching out at the same rate. Any two galaxies separated by distance X are receding from each other at the same speed, while a galaxy at distance 2X recedes at twice that speed.

The universe is not only expanding, but expanding faster. This means that with time, nobody will be able to spot other galaxies from Earth or any other vantage point within our galaxy.

"We will see distant galaxies moving away from us, but their speed is increasing with time," Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb said in a March 2014 Space.com article.

"So, if you wait long enough, eventually, a distant galaxy will reach the speed of light. What that means is that even light won't be able to bridge the gap that's being opened between that galaxy and us. There's no way for extraterrestrials on that galaxy to communicate with us, to send any signals that will reach us, once their galaxy is moving faster than light relative to us."

Related: 5 weird facts about seeing the universe's birth

— The 1st few seconds of the Big Bang: What we know and what we don't

— The universe: Big Bang to now in 10 easy steps

— Images: Black holes of the universe

Some physicists also suggest that the universe we experience is just one of many. In the " multiverse " model, different universes would coexist with each other like bubbles lying side by side. The theory suggests that in that first big push of inflation, different parts of space-time grew at different rates . This could have carved off different sections — different universes — with potentially different laws of physics.

Related: Best multiverse movies and TV shows: from Dr Strange to Dr Who

"It's hard to build models of inflation that don't lead to a multiverse," Alan Guth, a theoretical physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said during a news conference in March 2014 concerning the gravitational waves discovery. (Guth is not affiliated with that study.)

"It's not impossible, so I think there's still certainly research that needs to be done. But most models of inflation do lead to a multiverse, and evidence for inflation will be pushing us in the direction of taking [the idea of a] multiverse seriously."

While we can understand how the universe we see came to be, it's possible that the Big Bang was not the first inflationary period the universe experienced. Some scientists believe we live in a cosmos that goes through regular cycles of inflation and deflation, and that we just happen to be living in one of these phases.

A telescope is almost like a time machine, allowing us to peer back into the distant past. With the aid of the Hubble space telescope, NASA has shown us galaxies as they were many billions of years ago — and Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope , has the ability to look even deeper into the past. 

NASA hopes it will see all the way back to when the first galaxies formed, nearly 13.6 billion years ago. And unlike Hubble, which sees mainly in the visible waveband , JWST is an infrared telescope — a big advantage when looking at very distant galaxies. The expansion of the universe means that waves emitted from them are stretched out, so light that was emitted at visible wavelengths actually reaches us in the infrared.

The Big Bang Theory: becoming a household name

The name "Big Bang Theory" has been a popular way to talk about the concept among astrophysicists for decades, but it hit the mainstream in 2007 when a comedy T.V. show with the same name premiered on CBS. 

Running for 279 episodes over 12 seasons, the show "The Big Bang Theory" followed the lives of a group of scientists, which included physicists, astrophysicists and aerospace engineers. The show explores the group's nerdy friendships, romances and squabbles. Its first season premiered on Sept. 24, 2007, and the show officially ended on May 16, 2019.

Although the show itself didn't dive too much into actual science, the showrunners did hire UCLA astrophysicist David Saltzberg as a science consultant for the entire run of the show, according to Science magazine . Science consultants are often hired for sci-fi and science-related shows and movies to help keep certain aspects realistic.

Thanks to Saltzberg, the characters' vocabulary included a host of science jargon and the whiteboards in the background of labs, offices and apartments throughout the show were filled with a variety of equations and information. 

Over the course of the show, Saltzberg said, those whiteboards became coveted space as researchers sent him new work that they hoped might be featured there. In one episode, Saltzberg recalled, new evidence of gravitational waves was scrawled across a whiteboard that ostensibly belonged to famed physicist Steven Hawking, who also approved the text.

The show took some liberties , as it was fictional. This included fabricating some new scientific concepts and fictionalizing the politics of Nobel prizes and academia, according to Fermilab physicist Don Lincoln.

Related: How 'The Big Bang Theory' sent Howard Wolowitz to space

Notably, several characters in the series take trips. One episode sees main characters Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard set out on a research expedition to the Arctic — many physics experiments are best performed at or near the extreme environments of the poles. Another put aerospace engineer Howard on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and, later, a model of the International Space Station along with real-life astronaut Mike Massimino .  

Discover more about CMB on NASA's webpage on putting the Big Bang theory to the test. NASA has also put together what the Big Bang might have looked it in this animation . Here are 5 quick facts about the Big Bang from How It Works magazine. 

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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, " Why Am I Taller ?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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What happened in the early universe?

About 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang gave rise to everything, everywhere, and everywhen—the entire known Universe. What caused the Big Bang? What happened that first moment at the beginning of the Big Bang? When did the first stars form?

Our knowledge of the events and forces that shaped the early Universe is dependent on our ability to understand the most extreme conditions.   On one hand, the Universe’s origin was incomprehensibly small, on dimensions much tinier than the smallest known subatomic particles, and it was completely transformed over an immeasurably brief period, much shorter than any observable time scale. On the other, the densities and temperatures were extraordinarily large, far exceeding anything existing in the present-day Universe.

To study the birth of the Universe, Scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian travel to the most remote observing site on the planet: the South Pole. Due to the lack of water vapor in the air, this is one of the best sites to observe the CMB. The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station includes BICEP3, the Keck Array, and the South Pole Telescope, all specifically designed to look for signatures of Inflation in the CMB. 

Large clouds of hydrogen give off radio waves at a particular frequency.  Astronomers study the signal to weigh “nearby” galaxies and measure their motion through space.  To study the distant cosmic dark age, LEDA works with a custom radio telescope to identify corresponding signals from hydrogen generated at the end of the dark age, less than 100 million years after the Big Bang or less than  1% of the age of the universe. The signal will be very, very faint, but study will lay out how the first large-scale structures in the universe and the first small-scale structures–stars and black holes, formed.

To complement LEDA’s cosmic dark age research, scientists at the CFA Institute for Theory and Computation run simulations of the early Universe and how the first stars formed. After dark matter first clumped together, it attracted large clouds of hydrogen. When the clouds grew large enough, the heat and pressure from gravity started fusing the hydrogen, igniting the first star.

Simulations predict that these first stars were enormous, perhaps hundreds of times larger than our sun. Stars this size burn their fuel extremely quickly and die spectacularly in a supernova, sometimes leaving behind a black hole. These black holes may be the seeds of the supermassive black holes we now find in the center of large galaxies, including the Milky Way.   Studies into the Early Universe can provide meaningful insight into our origins, and scientists at the Center for Astrophysics are leading the way.

Looking Into The Distant Past

In a moment so fleetingly, immeasurably small, scientists theorize that the Big Bang was preceded by an “Inflationary Period.” In a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, the Universe grew by a factor of 10 26 , comparable to a single bacterium expanding to the size of the Milky Way.

Inflation projected infinitesimal quantum fluctuations in the young Universe into cosmic scales, leaving some patches with a little more or a little less matter. These variations became the scaffolding for the structure of the Universe.

As the Universe expanded, the seething plasma of subatomic particles cooled to form hydrogen, the first atoms. Light was able to travel unimpeded through the Universe for the first time, a faint glow of radiation that permeates the entire Universe. This Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is the oldest observable source of light, a relic left over from when the Universe was only 380,000 years old.

Scientists believe the CMB still holds traces of Inflation, and with it, a window into the earliest moments of our Universe. Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists are hard at work building and operating telescopes, like BICEP3, to observe the intricate features of this radiation, providing clues into the structure and history of the Universe. 

While the theory of inflation is the most popular proposal, the Big Bang might in fact have a different origin. For example, in some other theories the Big Bang was a result of a bounce from a Big Crunch of the entire universe. Scientists at the Institute for Theory and Computation work to propose new methods of deciding which theory is correct through astrophysical observations and discovering the exact origin of the Big Bang from experiments.

A depiction of the universe's 13.8 billion-year history, with the Big Bang at the left and the present day at the right. Researchers seek indirect ways to study the first instants of cosmic history, which are hidden from us.

Cosmic Dark Ages

After the Universe cooled sufficiently to allow atoms to form, what was once an incredibly hot and bright place turned cold and dark. Gravity slowly amplified tiny inhomogeneities in the distribution of gas, forming empty voids and massive clouds of hydrogen.  As gravity drove clouds to collapse further, they became peppered with something new – stars.  How long was it between the Big Bang and "cosmic dawn"?

Scientists hypothesize that unlike stars today, the earliest ones were massive and short-lived.  As generation after generation died, were black holes left behind in droves? Were these seeds for the supermassive singularities known to exist in the centers of galaxies today?  Scientists have no direct observations of this era with which to test hypotheses.  It is a literal and figurative “dark age.”

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists formulated the Large Aperture Experiment to Detect the Dark Ages (LEDA) in an effort to zero in on when the first stars and black holes formed, and to test cosmologists' hypotheses about conditions in the universe before stars.

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The Big Bang Theory: How the Universe Began

The Big Bang theory represents cosmologists ' best attempts to reconstruct the 14 billion year story of the universe based on the sliver of existence visible today.

Different people use the term "Big Bang" in different ways. Most generally, it illustrates the arc of the observable universe as it thinned out and cooled down from an initially dense, hot state. This description boils down to the idea that the cosmos is expanding, a broad principle analogous to survival of the fittest in biology that few would consider debatable.

More specifically, the Big Bang can also refer to the birth of the observable universe itself — the moment something changed, kickstarting the events that led to today. Cosmologists have argued for decades about the details of that fraction of a second, and the discussion continues today. [ From Big Bang to Present: Snapshots of Our Universe Through Time ]

The classic Big Bang theory

For most of human history, observers of the sky assumed it eternal and unchanging. Edwin Hubble dealt this story an experimental blow in the 1920s when his observations showed both that galaxies outside the Milky Way existed, and that their light appeared stretched — a sign that they were rushing away from Earth .

George Lemaître, a contemporary Belgian physicist, interpreted data from Hubble and others as evidence of an expanding universe, a possibility permitted by Einstein's recently published field equations of general relativity . Thinking backwards, Lemaître inferred that today's separating galaxies must have started out together in what he called the "primeval atom."

The first public use of the modern term for Lemaître's idea actually came from a critic — English astronomer Fred Hoyle. On March 28, 1949, Hoyle coined the phrase during a defense of his preferred theory of an eternal universe that created matter to cancel out the dilution of expansion. Hoyle said the notion that "all matter of the universe was created in one big bang at a particular time in the remote past," was irrational. In later interviews, Hoyle denied intentionally inventing a slanderous name , but the moniker stuck, much to the frustration of some.

"The Big Bang is a really bad term," said Paul Steinhardt, a cosmologist at Princeton. "The Big Stretch would capture the right idea." The mental image of an explosion causes all kinds of confusion, according to Steinhardt. It implies a central point, an expanding frontier, and a scene where light shrapnel flies faster than heavier chunks. But an expanding universe looks nothing like that, he said. There's no center, no edge, and galaxies large and small all slide apart in the same way (although more distant galaxies move away faster under the cosmologically recent influence of dark energy).

Regardless of its name, the Big Bang theory found widespread acceptance for its unparalleled ability to explain what we see. The balance of light with particles like protons and neutrons during the first 3 minutes, for instance, let early elements form at a rate predicting the current amounts of helium and other light atoms.

"There was a small window in time where it was possible for nuclei to form," said Glennys Farrar, a cosmologist at New York University. "After that, the universe kept expanding and they couldn't find each other, and before [the window] it was too hot."

A cloudy plasma filled the universe for the next 378,000 years, until further cooling let electrons and protons form neutral hydrogen atoms, and the fog cleared. The light emitted during this process, which has since stretched into microwaves, is the earliest known object researchers can study directly. Known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, many researchers consider it the strongest evidence for the Big Bang.

An explosive update

But as cosmologists pushed farther back into the universe's first moments, the story unraveled. General relativity's equations suggested an initial speck of unlimited heat and density — a singularity. In addition to not making much physical sense, a singular origin didn't match the smooth, flat CMB. Fluctuations in the speck's formidable temperature and density would have produced swaths of sky with different properties , but the CMB's temperature varies by just a fraction of a degree. The curvature of space-time also looks quite flat, which implies an initially near-perfect balance of matter and curvature that most cosmologists find improbable.

Alan Guth proposed a new picture of the first fraction of a second in the 1980s, suggesting that the universe spent its earliest moments growing exponentially faster than it does today. At some point this process stopped, and putting on the brakes produced a dense and hot (but not infinitely so) mess of particles that takes the place of the singularity. "In my own mind I think of that as the Big Bang, when the universe got hot," Farrar said.

The inflation theory, as it's called, now has a plethora of competing models. Although no one knew much about what made the universe expand so rapidly, the theory has grown popular for its ability to explain the seemingly improbable featureless CMB: Inflation preserved minor fluctuations (which developed into today's galaxy clusters), while flattening the major ones. "It's a very sweet story," Steinhardt said, who helped develop the theory. "It's the one we tell our kids."

Beyond inflation

Recent research has introduced two wrinkles into the inflation theory's cosmic narrative. Work by Steinhardt and others suggests that inflation would have stopped in some regions (such as our observable universe) but continued in others, producing an array of separate territories with "every conceivable set of cosmological properties," as Steinhardt puts it. Many physicists find this " multiverse " picture distasteful, because it makes an infinite number of untestable predictions.

On the experimental front, cosmologists expect that inflation should have produced galaxy-spanning gravitational waves in the CMB just as it produced slight temperature and density variations. Current experiments should be sensitive enough to find them, but the primordial space-time ripples haven't shown up (despite one false alarm in 2014 ).

Many researchers await more precise CMB measurements that could kill, or validate , the many inflation models that still stand. Other physicists, however, don't see the cosmos's smoothness as a problem at all — it started off uniform and needs no explanation .

While experimentalists strive for new levels of precision, some theorists have turned away from inflation to seek other ways to squash the universe flat. Steinhardt, for instance, is working on a "big bounce" model, which pushes the starting clock back even further, to an earlier period of contraction that smoothed space-time and set the stage for an explosive expansion. He hopes that before too long, new signatures, in addition to problems like the lack of primordial gravitational waves, will set cosmologists up with a new creation story to tell. "Are there any other observable features to look for?" Steinhardt said, "Ask me again in a few years and I hope to have an answer."

Additional resources :

• Fermilab's Don Lincoln explains exactly what the Big Bang theory does, and doesn't say.
• Read about why some think it's odd how flat the universe is .
• PBS's SpaceTime explains why inflation has proved such an attractive idea .

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Charlie Wood is a staff writer at Quanta Magazine, where he covers physics both on and off the planet. In addition to Live Science, his work has also appeared in Popular Science, Scientific American, The Christian Science Monitor, and other publications. Previously, he taught physics and English in Mozambique and Japan, and he holds an undergraduate degree in physics from Brown University. 

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Today 'Big Bang' is a household phrase, used even by people who have no idea of how the Universe was born some 14 billion years ago. Credit: Henning Dalhoff/SPL

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“Words are like harpoons,” UK physicist and astronomer Fred Hoyle told an interviewer in 1995. “Once they go in, they are very hard to pull out.” Hoyle, then 80 years old, was referring to the term Big Bang, which he had coined on 28 March 1949 to describe the origin of the Universe. Today, it is a household phrase, known to and routinely used by people who have no idea of how the Universe was born some 14 billion years ago. Ironically, Hoyle deeply disliked the idea of a Big Bang and remained, until his death in 2001, a staunch critic of mainstream Big Bang cosmology.

Several misconceptions linger concerning the origin and impact of the popular term. One is whether Hoyle introduced the nickname to ridicule or denigrate the small community of cosmologists who thought that the Universe had a violent beginning — a hypothesis that then seemed irrational. Another is that this group adopted ‘Big Bang’ eagerly, and it then migrated to other sciences and to everyday language. In reality, for decades, scientists ignored the catchy phrase, even as it spread in more-popular contexts.

This new map of the Universe suggests dark matter shaped the cosmos

The first cosmological theory of the Big Bang type dates back to 1931, when Belgian physicist and Catholic priest Georges Lemaître proposed a model based on the radioactive explosion of what he called a “primeval atom” at a fixed time in the past. He conceived that this primordial object was highly radioactive and so dense that it comprised all the matter, space and energy of the entire Universe. From the original explosion caused by radioactive decay, stars and galaxies would eventually form, he reasoned. Lemaître spoke metaphorically of his model as a “fireworks theory” of the Universe, the fireworks consisting of the decay products of the initial explosion.

However, Big Bang cosmology in its modern meaning — that the Universe was created in a flash of energy and has expanded and cooled down since — took off only in the late 1940s, with a series of papers by the Soviet–US nuclear physicist George Gamow and his US associates Ralph Alpher and Robert Herman. Gamow hypothesized that the early Universe must have been so hot and dense that it was filled with a primordial soup of radiation and nuclear particles, namely neutrons and protons. Under such conditions, those particles would gradually come together to form atomic nuclei as the temperature cooled. By following the thermonuclear processes that would have taken place in this fiery young Universe, Gamow and his collaborators tried to calculate the present abundance of chemical elements in an influential 1948 paper 1 .

Competing ideas

The same year, a radically different picture of the Universe was announced by Hoyle and Austrian-born cosmologists Hermann Bondi and Thomas Gold. Their steady-state theory assumed that, on a large scale, the Universe had always looked the same and would always do so, for eternity. According to Gamow, the idea of an ‘early Universe’ and an ‘old Universe’ were meaningless in a steady-state cosmology that posited a Universe with no beginning or end.

Over the next two decades, an epic controversy between these two incompatible systems evolved. It is often portrayed as a fight between the Big Bang theory and the steady-state theory, or even personalized as a battle between Gamow and Hoyle. But this is a misrepresentation.

Soviet–US nuclear physicist George Gamow was an early proponent of Big Bang cosmology. Credit: Bettmann/Getty

Both parties, and most other physicists of the time, accepted that the Universe was expanding — as US astronomer Edwin Hubble demonstrated in the late 1920s by observing that most galaxies are rushing away from our own. But the idea that is so familiar today, of the Universe beginning at one point in time, was widely seen as irrational. After all, how could the cause of the original explosion be explained, given that time only came into existence with it? In fact, Gamow’s theory of the early Universe played almost no part in this debate.

Rather, a bigger question at the time was whether the Universe was evolving in accordance with German physicist Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which predicted that it was either expanding or contracting, not steady. Although Einstein’s theory doesn’t require a Big Bang, it does imply that the Universe looked different in the past than it does now. And an ever-expanding Universe does not necessarily entail the beginning of time. An expanding Universe could have blown up from a smaller precursor, Lemaître suggested in 1927.

An apt but innocent phrase

On 28 March 1949, Hoyle — a well-known popularizer of science — gave a radio talk to the BBC Third Programme, in which he contrasted these two views of the Universe. He referred to “the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular time in the remote past”. This lecture was indeed the origin of the cosmological term ‘Big Bang’. A transcript of the talk was reproduced in full in the BBC’s The Listener magazine, and Hoyle mentioned it in his 1950 book The Nature of the Universe , which was based on a series of BBC broadcasts he made earlier the same year.

How dwarf galaxies lit up the Universe after the Big Bang

Although Hoyle resolutely dismissed the idea of a sudden origin of the Universe as unacceptable on both scientific and philosophical grounds, he later said that he did not mean it in ridiculing or mocking terms, such as was often stated. None of the few cosmologists in favour of the exploding Universe, such as Lemaître and Gamow, was offended by the term. Hoyle later explained that he needed visual metaphors in his broadcast to get across technical points to the public, and the casual coining of ‘Big Bang’ was one of them. He did not mean it to be derogatory or, for that matter, of any importance.

Hoyle’s ‘Big Bang’ was a new term as far as cosmology was concerned, but it was not in general contexts. The word ‘bang’ often refers to an ordinary explosion, say, of gunpowder, and a big bang might simply mean a very large and noisy explosion, something similar to Lemaître’s fireworks. And indeed, before March 1949, there were examples in the scientific literature of meteorologists and geophysicists using the term in their publications. Whereas they referred to real explosions, Hoyle’s Big Bang was purely metaphorical, in that he did not actually think that the Universe originated in a blast.

The Big Bang was not a big deal

For the next two decades, the catchy term that Hoyle had coined was largely ignored by physicists and astronomers. Lemaître never used ‘Big Bang’ and Gamow used it only once in his numerous publications on cosmology. One might think that at least Hoyle took it seriously and promoted his coinage, but he returned to it only in 1965, after a silence of 16 years. It took until 1957 before ‘Big Bang’ appeared in a research publication 2 , namely in a paper on the formation of elements in stars in Scientific Monthly by the US nuclear physicist William Fowler, a close collaborator of Hoyle and a future Nobel laureate.

How Einstein built on the past to make his breakthroughs

Before 1965, the cosmological Big Bang seems to have been referenced just a few dozen times, mostly in popular-science literature. I have counted 34 sources that mentioned the name and, of these, 23 are of a popular or general nature, 7 are scientific papers and 4 are philosophical studies. The authors include 16 people from the United States, 7 from the United Kingdom, one from Germany and one from Australia. None of the scientific papers appeared in astronomy journals.

Among those that used the term for the origin of the Universe was the US philosopher Norwood Russell Hanson, who in 1963 coined his own word for advocates of what he called the ‘Disneyoid picture’ of the cosmic explosion. He called them ‘big bangers’, a term which still can be found in the popular literature — in which the ultimate big banger is sometimes identified as God.

A popular misnomer

A watershed moment in the history of modern cosmology soon followed. In 1965, US physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson’s report of the discovery of the cosmic microwave background — a faint bath of radio waves coming from all over the sky — was understood as a fossil remnant of radiation from the hot cosmic past. “Signals Imply a ‘Big Bang’ Universe” announced the New York Times on 21 May 1965. The Universe did indeed have a baby phase, as was suggested by Gamow and Lemaître. The cosmological battle had effectively come to an end, with the steady-state theory as the loser and the Big Bang theory emerging as a paradigm in cosmological research. Yet, for a while, physicists and astronomers hesitated to embrace Hoyle’s term.

Work by US physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson vindicated the Big Bang theory. Credit: Bettmann/Getty

It took until March 1966 for the name to turn up in a Nature research article 3 . The Web of Science database lists only 11 scientific papers in the period 1965–69 with the name in their titles, followed by 30 papers in 1970–74 and 42 in 1975–79. Cosmology textbooks published in the early 1970s showed no unity with regard to the nomenclature. Some authors included the term Big Bang, some mentioned it only in passing and others avoided it altogether. They preferred to speak of the ‘standard model’ or the ‘theory of the hot universe’, instead of the undignified and admittedly misleading Big Bang metaphor.

Nonetheless, by the 1980s, the misnomer had become firmly entrenched in the literature and in common speech. The phrase has been adopted in many languages other than English, including French ( théorie du Big Bang ), Italian ( teoria del Big Bang ) and Swedish ( Big Bang teorin ). Germans have constructed their own version, namely Urknall , meaning ‘the original bang’, a word that is close to the Dutch oerknal . Later attempts to replace Hoyle’s term with alternative and more-appropriate names have failed miserably.

The many faces of the metaphor

By the 1990s, ‘Big Bang’ had migrated to commercial, political and artistic uses. During the 1950s and 1960s, the term frequently alluded to the danger of nuclear warfare as it did in UK playwright John Osborne’s play Look Back in Anger, first performed in 1956. The association of nuclear weapons and the explosive origin of the Universe can be found as early as 1948, before Hoyle coined his term. As its popularity increased, ‘Big Bang’ began being used to express a forceful beginning or radical change of almost any kind — such as the Bristol Sessions, a series of recording sessions in 1927, being referred to as the ‘Big Bang’ of modern country music.

In the United Kingdom, the term was widely used for a major transformation of the London Stock Exchange in 1986. “After the Big Bang tomorrow, the City will never be the same again,” wrote Sunday Express Magazine on 26 October that year. That use spread to the United States. In 1987, the linguistic journal American Speech included ‘Big Bang’ in its list of new words and defined ‘big banger’ as “one involved with the Big Bang on the London Stock Exchange”.

Today, searching online for the ‘Big Bang theory’ directs you first not to cosmology, but to a popular US sitcom. Seventy-five years on, the name that Hoyle so casually coined has indeed metamorphosed into a harpoon-like word: very hard to pull out once in.

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Sheldon Cooper’s the Big Bang Theory

This essay about Sheldon Cooper from “The Big Bang Theory” examines his character as a blend of remarkable intellect and notable social awkwardness, making him one of television’s most iconic figures. It discusses how Sheldon’s adherence to strict personal codes and routines, combined with his emotional growth throughout the series, particularly through his relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler, contributes significantly to the show’s humor and heartwarming moments. The essay highlights Sheldon’s development from a robotic personality to a more emotionally rounded individual, reflecting on how his friendships explore themes of acceptance and the enriching nature of diverse personalities. Additionally, it considers Sheldon’s role in making complex scientific ideas accessible to the lay audience, thereby blending educational content with entertainment. Sheldon’s evolution is portrayed as a key element of the show’s success, illustrating the depth of character development that can be achieved in a comedic series.

How it works

Sheldon Cooper, portrayed by Jim Parsons, stands out as one of the most iconic characters in the history of television comedy, largely due to his unique blend of brilliant intellect and comical social ineptitude. Through “The Big Bang Theory,” which ran from 2007 to 2019, Sheldon became a household name, embodying the stereotype of the “mad genius” better than any character in recent memory. This discussion aims to peel back the layers of Sheldon’s character, examining how he contributed to the show’s success and left a significant imprint on pop culture.

From the outset, Sheldon is not your average neighbor or friend. His vast intelligence in theoretical physics is matched only by his often profound lack of social skills and his adherence to a personal code that flummoxes those around him. His relationships with fellow scientists Leonard, Howard, and Raj, as well as his interactions with the world at large, are a constant source of humor and occasionally, heartwarming moments. Sheldon’s character is rigorously structured; from his strict meal schedules to his “spot” on the couch, his life is a series of rituals and routines. This predictability became one of the show’s running jokes, as the slightest deviations lead to some of the funniest moments.

What truly makes Sheldon stand out is his dynamic development over the series. Initially, Sheldon appears almost robotic — his emotions are subdued, and his interactions are based on logic rather than empathy. However, as seasons progress, we witness a significant transformation. His relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler is a critical turning point. Amy, who is similarly intellectual and socially awkward, provides a mirror for Sheldon, sparking changes that are both surprising and deeply satisfying. Their romance introduces Sheldon to a range of emotional experiences, from jealousy and frustration to love and compromise, which were largely foreign to him.

Furthermore, Sheldon’s friendships are a focal point for exploring themes of acceptance and understanding. Despite his quirks and demanding nature, Leonard, Penny, Howard, and Raj consistently show him unconditional support and patience. This dynamic not only provides comedic material but also subtly promotes the message that diversity in personalities enriches relationships. Sheldon, with his idiosyncrasies, challenges his friends to be more patient, empathetic, and flexible, while they teach him the nuances of social interaction and the importance of emotions.

“The Big Bang Theory” cleverly uses Sheldon’s character to bridge the gap between the scientifically minded and the average viewer. Through his explanations of complex scientific concepts in layman’s terms — albeit sometimes patronizingly — the show manages to be educational without losing its comedic edge. Sheldon’s catchphrases like “Bazinga!” or his rendition of “Soft Kitty” when he’s sick, have infiltrated popular culture, showing the character’s broader impact beyond just laughs.

In conclusion, Sheldon Cooper is more than just a source of comic relief; he is a portrayal of how people can maintain their individuality while still making meaningful connections. His evolution from a socially awkward scientist to a husband and friend is a testament to the show’s depth in character development, blending humor with lessons on personal growth and acceptance. Sheldon’s lasting appeal lies in his complexity and the balance “The Big Bang Theory” strikes between celebrating his intellect and acknowledging his shortcomings. As television continues to evolve, Sheldon Cooper remains a benchmark for character creation, ensuring his place in the pantheon of TV’s most memorable characters.

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Evidence for the big bang.

Astronomers think the Big Bang is the best way to explain how the Universe started and how it changed over time. All science is based on evidence. So what is the evidence for the Big Bang?

1. Redshift of Galaxies

The light we observe from galaxies has been stretched by the time it reaches us. It looks redder than it should. This redshift is the result of galaxies moving away from us. Observations show that pretty much everything in the Universe is moving apart. The redshift of distant galaxies tells us the Universe is expanding .

If you could wind time backwards, you would see galaxies getting closer together. If you could go back far enough, everything in the Universe would have been in one place. 

2. Microwave Background

A long, long time ago , the whole Universe was very hot. As it grew in the size, the heat left a "glow" which fills the entire Universe. The Big Bang theory predicts this glow should still exist. It also predicts that we should be able to detect this glow as microwave light . 

Scientist have found this Cosmic Microwave Background. They have accurately measured it using orbiting detectors. It is very good evidence that the Big Bang theory is correct.

3. Mixture of Elements

Some chemical elements were created soon after the Big Bang. Elements like hydrogen and helium. The Big Bang theory predicts how much of each element was made in the early universe. When astronomers look at very old galaxies and stars , the amount of each chemical they see agrees with the Big Bang theory.

You cannot look for this evidence in new stars, like the Sun . This is because newer stars contain chemical elements made by older stars. So the chemical make-up of new stars is very different from stars which existed soon after the Big Bang.

4. Looking back in time

There is an alternative to the Big Bang theory. It is called the Steady State theory . In this theory, the Universe does not change much over time.

Remember - light takes a long time to travel across the Universe. So when we look at galaxies which are very far away, we are also looking back in time.

This means we can see that very old galaxies are very different from newer galaxies. This shows the Universe has changed. This evidence fits better with the Big Bang theory than the Steady State theory.

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Essay on Big Bang Theory

Students are often asked to write an essay on Big Bang Theory in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Big Bang Theory

Introduction to big bang theory.

The Big Bang Theory is a scientific idea about how the universe started. It says that about 13.8 billion years ago, all matter was packed into a very tiny space. Then, it exploded. This is called the Big Bang.

After the Big Bang

After the Big Bang, the universe began to expand. It got bigger and cooler. Over billions of years, stars, galaxies, and planets formed. This process is still happening. The universe is still getting bigger today.

Proof of the Big Bang

Scientists have found proof of the Big Bang. One proof is the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation. This is leftover heat from the Big Bang.

Importance of the Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is important because it explains how the universe began. It helps scientists understand the past and predict the future. It also shows that the universe is always changing.

Common Misunderstandings

Some people think the Big Bang was a big explosion. But it was not. It was the start of the expansion of the universe. Also, the Big Bang did not happen at a certain place. It happened everywhere at once.

250 Words Essay on Big Bang Theory

The big bang theory.

The Big Bang Theory is a scientific idea about how the universe started and then made the stars and galaxies we see today. Scientists believe that our universe began with a very hot, small, and dense point about 13.8 billion years ago. This is often called the singularity.

What Happened in the Big Bang?

In the Big Bang, the singularity expanded very quickly. This is what we mean when we say the universe is expanding. It’s not that the galaxies are moving, but the space between everything in the universe is growing. Imagine if you drew dots on a balloon and then blew it up, the dots would move away from each other as the balloon expands.

After the Big Bang, the universe was very hot and full of particles. As it expanded, it cooled down. After about 380,000 years, atoms could form. These atoms grouped together to form stars and galaxies.

How Do We Know This?

Scientists have found a lot of evidence for the Big Bang. One of the biggest pieces of evidence is the Cosmic Microwave Background. This is a faint glow of light that fills the universe and can be detected in every direction. This light is a snapshot of the universe when it was just 380,000 years old. It shows us that the universe was hot and dense at that time, just like the Big Bang Theory predicts.

In conclusion, the Big Bang Theory is our best explanation of how the universe started. It’s backed by a lot of evidence and helps us understand where everything we see around us came from.

500 Words Essay on Big Bang Theory

What is the big bang theory.

The Big Bang Theory is a scientific idea about how the universe began. Scientists believe that around 13.8 billion years ago, all matter and energy in the universe were packed into a tiny dot. This dot was so hot and dense; even light could not escape from it. Then, in a fraction of a second, this dot started to expand rapidly. This sudden expansion is what scientists call the “Big Bang.”

The Expansion of the Universe

The Big Bang was not like an explosion you might see in a movie. There was no noise or fire because there was no air or space for these things to happen in. Instead, the Big Bang was the start of space and time itself. As the universe expanded, it cooled down. This cooling allowed particles of matter to form.

These particles grouped together over billions of years, forming stars, galaxies, and eventually, planets. Even now, the universe continues to expand. This idea comes from the observation that distant galaxies seem to be moving away from us in all directions.

Evidence for the Big Bang Theory

Scientists have found many pieces of evidence that support the Big Bang Theory. One of the most important pieces of evidence is the “cosmic microwave background radiation.” This is a faint glow of light that fills the universe and can be detected in every direction. This light is the afterglow of the Big Bang, cooled down over billions of years.

Another piece of evidence is the amount of hydrogen and helium in the universe. The Big Bang Theory predicts that the universe’s early moments should have created these elements in the exact amount we see today.

What Happened Before the Big Bang?

The question of what happened before the Big Bang is a tricky one. According to the Big Bang Theory, space and time started with the Big Bang. So, it doesn’t make sense to ask what happened before it. Some scientists suggest that our universe might be one of many, with each having its own Big Bang. But, this is just a theory, and we don’t have any evidence to support it yet.

The Big Bang Theory is important because it is the best explanation we have for how the universe began. It helps us understand where we come from and how we fit into the cosmos. It also guides scientists in their search for the laws that govern the universe.

In conclusion, the Big Bang Theory is a fascinating and complex topic. It involves the study of the universe’s birth and its ongoing expansion. Despite the complexity, the theory has a large amount of supportive evidence, making it widely accepted in the scientific community. Remember, science is always evolving, and as we learn more, our understanding of the universe and its origins may change.

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Physics: Big Bang Theory Essay

The origin of the universe, on the premises of the superstring theory, was from nothing. In a way, this supports and opposes the creationist theory. It supports it because it implies that matter was created from nothing. Conversely, it contradicts it because the “physical” proof of nothing in the scientific understanding precludes the creator, who creationists claim transcends temporal and spatial dimensions.

The fundamental idea on which the string theory is based is that different particles in the standard model are manifestations of the primary object, which in this case, are represented by a hypothetical string. This begs the question, “how is that plausible?” For it to make sense, one must reconsider the traditional assumptions that underline the idea of electrons.

Contrary to the popular assumption that it is a point if the string theory is true, then it means that it is a point. The string theory makes sense because a string is capable of other actions apart from motion that electrons in the universe cannot achieve. A string can oscillate in various ways. However, when it is oscillating, one cannot distinguish the movement from a distance.

Thus, only a point is visible, which gives evidence to the idea of electrons. Retrospectively, scientists have been able to perceive these strings, and they assume that they are photons. Hypothetically, the string is so small compared to an electron. It is like a computer mouse compared with the solar system. However, following the logic of the string theory to its conclusion ultimately leads one into concluding that the universe is made up of strings as opposed to the conventional electrons (points).

From the information about the superstring theory, one can deduce the solution to other problems that have dominated theoretical physics for years. That is the explanation of why gravity appears to be so weak as compared to the other fundamental forces. Assuming that the strings are too small to measure, or incorporate into other dimensions, scientists have postulated that gravity in its entirety can only be felt at higher dimensions that human beings are incapable of perceiving.

Furthermore, given that the strings are too small to be seen through the application of the current technologies, some have proposed that the string theory is more of a philosophical than a scientific approach. Mathematically though, the string theory remains coherent and logical. However, to the frustration of many scientists, it remains stubbornly abstract and theoretically rendering any attempts to apply it or even experiment with it for empirical results.

While admitting that the theory indeed has a singular elegance in its mathematical profundity, one is nevertheless forced to contend with the fact that there are over five schools of thought dedicated to the superstring theory and, irrespective of the level of elegance, none of them can be deemed conclusive.

However, in this respect, there is a glimmer of hope since it is postulated that if an eleventh dimension was included, these theories might be reconciled as one different way of looking at the same thing rather than five different explanations of the same concept. This reasoning can ultimately lead to connecting the superstring theory with the supergravity one, which was postulated in the early 1980s, although it has been relegated to the periphery by contemporary theories about the universe.

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Scientists believe the Universe began in a hot ‘big bang’ about 13,600 million years ago. The Universe continues to expand today. The evidence for the Big Bang theory includes the existence of a microwave background radiation, [...]

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The Big Bang Theory Essay

• Pages: 12 (3047 words)
• Published: January 25, 2022

Introduction

The Big Bang theory is an emerging issue in the astronomic field. It is the study of the formation of the universe. The Theory shows the process of formation from the hot, dense initial condition at its current state. The universe is continuously expanding, and the scientists need to make detailed predictions of the most mysterious past. The study will explore the origin of the components of the universe. It will also examine the formation of the initial conditions (Bortz, 2014). The study will give the relation of the origin of the universe components. It will focus on the first second and the origin of the light. It will explore NASA explanations about the universe temperature and how it brought the earth formation changes. Secondly, the study will focus on the determination of the age of the universe. It will consider the NASA’s Cosmic Bac

kground Explorer (COBE) satellite missions of the 1990s. Other studies to consider are NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Thirdly, the study will focus on the gravitational waves controversy. The controversy negated the Albert Einstein’s theory of the speed light limit. Lastly, it will concentrate on the expansion of the universe (Zakharov, 2015).

The study will utilize the current and past theories of the evolution. It will also establish the harmony between the theory and the Bible. The study will resolve the conflict between the Biblical explanations and the science. The study will also explore the questions that the physics cannot answer in its explanations of the universe. Lastly, the paper will explore additional explanations for the origin of the universe (Sahijpal, 2013).

The Birth of Light and the First Second

According to th

big bang theory, the first second after the universe came into existence when the temperatures in the surroundings were about 10 billion degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 billion Celsius). NASA strongly supports this information. The cosmos is believed to have contained a wide array of fundamental particles. The particles that were thought to be in the cosmos included protons, neutrons, and electrons. These particles underwent decay and combination due to the drop in the temperatures of the universe.

Scientists were not able to explore the primordial soup decisively because it could not manage to carry light. The existence of the free electrons could have caused the light’s protons to scatter just like the sun scatters from the clouds’ water droplets. NASA stated that this later formed a union between the nuclease and the electrons. The combination of the nuclei and the electrons led to the formation of the neutral atoms. The structure of the neutral atoms allowed light to shine for a period of not less than 380,000 years after the big bang theory (Zakharov, 2015).

The afterglow is a name used to refer to the early light years of the big bang. The first light years are also known as cosmic microwave background (CMB). The first predictions were made by Ralph Alpher with the help of fellow scientists who aided him in his predictions in 1948. His predictions were found about 20 years later almost by accident. These predictions were identified by Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias, who both belonged to the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey as they were setting up a radio receiver in 1965. They picked up temperatures that were extremely higher

than the expected average temperatures. NASA, at first, thought that the anomaly was as a result of the pigeon’s dung. The defect persisted even after the killing of the pigeons and cleaning of the mess. The pigeons had roosted in the antenna.

Cosmic Background Explanation

The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) is also known as cosmic background radiation. It is a radiation that is electromagnetic in nature and which fills the universe. The only possible way to detect the radiation is by the use of radio telescope. Radio telescope makes the radiation show as a faint glow.

The radiation is a leftover from the early advancement of the universe. Scientists have tried to investigate how the cosmic radiation was formed and the influence that this radiation has on the universe. According to Zakharov (2015), cosmic radiation formed the landmark proof of the big bang theory. Before the planets and the stars were created, the universe was much hotter, smaller, and full of a uniform glow. These conditions were as a result of the accumulation of a deep fog of hydrogen plasma. With time the universe expanded. The expansion made the radiation and the plasma to grow colder. With decreased temperatures, stable atoms started forming and this led to a situation where these components could not absorb radiation any longer. This made the universe transparent unlike initially when an opaque fog filled it. The CMBR was found to be one of the most significant isotropic components that were unevenly distributed in the space. The Far-Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) instrument, measures the spectrum of the cosmic background radiation. Cosmic background radiation is the most accurately measured black-body spectrum in nature.

Cosmic background radiation forms the key prediction of the big bang theory. The inflationary cosmology made a prediction that the new universe experienced an explosive growth that leveled out almost all homogeneities within 10 to 37 seconds. This was then followed by a specific phase of transition that put into place the ultimate forces and the fundamental particles in their present form.

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe

NASA launched a space ship which started its operations in 2001 to 2010. The space ship was supposed to measure the temperature differences of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) across the sky. CMB is the remaining radiant heat from the Big Bang Theory. The spacecraft was initially known as the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP). This name was later changed to Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The mission was a joint partnership between NASA and Professor Charles Benedict of Johns Hopkins University. The WMAP spaceship was launched from Florida on June 30, 2001.The mission was a great success; the spacecraft was able to record all the intended data. This mission succeeded another assignment called the COBE mission, which was the second medium class spaceship regarding the NASA Explorers program. All the missions had one goal and aimed to achieve the same thing. The goal was to give credit and provide more proofs and evidence of the Big Bang theory. In 2010, WMAP was switched off. This was due to the launch of superior and more advanced Plank spacecraft in 2009 by ESA.

WMAP’s measurements had a significant role to play towards establishing the present standard model of cosmology. Some of the cosmological models include the Lambda-CDM model. The data that had been collected

by WMAP gave some variations in temperature as a result of intense sound waves. The intense sound waves were found to echo through the early universe after the big bang. This anisotropy shed some light due to variations in the density that made the matter to coalesce later. The galaxies and stars of the present universe were as a result of this coalescing. WMAP played an important role in the determination of the age of the universe. Based on the revelations that were collected from this experiment, the scientists found that that the age of the earth was 13.8 billion years. Data from the WMAP indicate that the very first stars in the universe came into being about half a billion years after the big bang. The mission has won some awards as recorded in science magazine.

Gravitational Wave Controversy

There was an announcement earlier this year by researchers who had a telescope at the South Pole called the BICEP. The announced that they had acquired evidence for the gravity waves that are as a result of the Big Bang itself. The results that will be obtained would be used to provide evidence on why the big bang left its mark in the modern-day universe. However, Mathew Francis has other suggestions concerning the same. According to his views, he suggested that the discovery was not as conclusive as it should be.

Cosmic Microwave Background provides some information that helps us understand the big bang theory. Evidence shows that all the consistent were with inflation. Although there has been no evidence showing a signal that has been predicted purposefully during the inflation, BICEP was built with the aim of

searching for one (Das, 2013). Predictions can be made based on the fact that inflation produces gravity waves which have the tendency to cause ripples in the universe through fabrics. These gravity waves are believed to have left their mark particularly on the photons of the cosmic microwave background. This led to the imparting of a subtle bias on their polarization. There are other things believed to affect how the cosmic microwave background photons are polarized. It is also thought that the dust present in the Milky Way of the big bang can also emit polarized light. The polarized light could have the curlicue pattern imprinted. Therefore, scientists have not come to a clear conclusion on the issue at hand. Many astronomers are convinced and have made proposals indicating that the Galactic signal fooled the BICEP 2 team.

Expansion of the Universe

The most accurate measurement to have ever been made by NASA was on the speed at which the universe was expanding. This was with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is a doozy. NASA realized that space was pulling itself apart at the seams. The pulling led to an expansion at an estimated rate of 74.4 km per second. Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer, was the first person to discover that the universe was not in a static state in the 1920s.He found that space seemed to expand since when it began with the big bang about 13.7 billion years ago. During the 1990s astronomers gave some shocking news that this expansion was speeding up (Bortz, 2014). Since the discoveries that were made by Hubble, scientists have tried several ways to refine the

measurements they make concerning the rate at which the universe expands. The measurement is called the Hubble Constant which is very hard to make. The new value is mainly used to reduce the uncertainty present in the Hubble Constant to 3 percent only. As a consequence, this helps to improve the precision of the measurement by a factor of 3, in comparison to the preliminary estimate from then Hubble Space Telescope.

A decade ago, it was not possible to use the words cosmology and ‘precision ‘in the same statement. The actual age and size that the universe had were only known to just a factor of two. The new measurements are very beneficial to the scientists. The measurements give a lot concerning the rate at which the universe expands and the reason as to why the expansion seems to accelerate. The scientists have named what is causing the universe to expand as the Dark energy. The scientists have limited the idea of nature and what the Dark energy is. Furthermore, they have combined the new value of the Hubble Constant and the observations recorded concerning the universe by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). These combinations made them make an independent calculation of the power of the dark energy pulling the universe outwards.

The Current and Past Theories of the Universe

Around 14 billion years ago, nothing existed in the planet earth. Due to some random fluctuation in a void that was empty, a universe came into existence. A subatomic particle became inflated to a huge size within a microsecond and this led to the big bang theory of the universe. It has been noted that the universe

is accelerating. As a result of the acceleration, objects are being pulled out of the Hubble Volume of the earth. Therefore, these objects will become undetectable to humans in the coming years. The big bang theory has many assumptions in it. The scientists assumed that the laws of physics are universal and do not change due to time and location in space. The other assumption was that the universe could be homogeneous and similar in all directions. This is not necessarily true at all times. Human beings also do not have the privilege to observe the universe at its very center.

When the above assumptions are put into an application with the Albert Einstein’s equations, they will indicate that universe has the following properties.

• At some finite time, the universe originated from a hot and dense state
• Helium and hydrogen, which were the lightest elements were formed during the first moments
• Cooling led to the formation of atoms

A comparable theory to the big bang is the Steady State Universe. The theory is a rival to the big bang theory. The steady state holds the idea of the continuous creation of matter in the entire universe and thus cause the expansion. In this theory, the universe would have no beginning or the end. The eternal inflation theory suggests that after the big bang theory the universe rapidly expanded within a very short period called the inflation. The theory holds that inflation did not stop, and has been taking place for an infinite period. It is recorded that new universes are still coming into existence in a large complex known as the multiverse. These universes could be having

some different physical laws.

The oscillating model of the universe is involved in an endless series of the big bangs. The oscillations are followed by big crutches that have the ability to restart the cycle again.

Physics cannot explain the questions raised about this multiverse. The number of planets in our solar system is still not known and science has proven to be subjective. This is due to the nullification of Pluto as a planet. As a result, this indicates that the number of planets in our solar system is subject to change at the whim of science. It makes the idea of now the eight planets and a central sun, appear just like a guess for the time being.

The truth is that the vast majority of our system is still unknown to mankind up to date and evidence supporting this idea exist. The area between the sun and Mercury is extremely bright to see. The area beyond Uranus has been found to be too dark to see. Astronomers are trying all ways and means to study our solar system, but the fact is that they still have a lot to do. The major challenge that the scientists face is that not even the very best and sophisticated telescope technology can see objects that are far beyond Pluto. Sunlight does not illuminate objects clearly beyond Pluto, leaving the scientists with a lot of assumptions to make. As a result, scientists have come up with a lot of guesswork and vague clues (Kaku, 1999). Physics does not clearly explain how the gravity works. It explains that gravity from the moon led to the formation of tides but it

does not give a clear understanding of how gravity pulls us to the center of the earth and how the gravity of the sun keeps the planets in the orbits. Scientists do not explain why gravity exists.

Additional Information About the Origin of the Universe

Religious groups such as Christianity, Islam, and others strongly hold that a supernatural being created the universe. The supernatural being has many names which vary from one group to the other. For example, in Christianity the deity is referred as God while in Islam the supernatural is known as Allah. It is believed that God created the universe. He first started by separating things. He divided the light from darkness and land from the water. He called the light day and darkness night. He later created the heavens and the skies and all the creatures both on land and in the sea. When the universe was fully created, God made man and called him Adam. Adam was put in a garden called Eden. God also made a wife for Adam who was called Eve and together they started coming up with generations. The theory is very detailed and systematic. Everything happens in an orderly way that can easily be understood. This theory is believed to be true and has been believed by a large number of people for very many years. Just like the other theories, scientists have also refuted this theory of creation. The reason behind this is that the origin of the supernatural being is not indicated. The theory again does not give the time when all the activities and changes in the universe as per the theory took place.

nature of man makes him explore and learn more about his surroundings. To quench his thirst for the knowledge of the universe, man has found himself coming up with an explanation of the universe and his existence. This has resulted to creation of various theories that explain the origin of the earth and the solar system. However, each theory has its own strength and weaknesses too. There is no theory that has provided an evidence that has been taken to be 100 percent true. As a result, man will still try to find out more. We might not know how we came into existence but the fact remains that something happened for us to be existing in the universe. The efforts made by bodies such as NASA towards understanding what is out there are worth. This process might be expensive but could still turn out to be of great benefit if discoveries that make life easier and better are made.

• Bortz, F. (2014). The Big Bang Theory: Edwin Hubble and the Origins of the Universe. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
• Das, M. (2013). Giant Low Surface Brightness Galaxies: Evolution in Isolation. Journal of Astrophysics & Astronomy, 34(1), 19.
• Kaku, M., & Thompson, J. T. (1999). Beyond Einstein: The cosmic quest for the theory of the universe. Oxford England: Oxford University Press.
• Sahijpal, S. (2013). Inhomogeneous Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy in the Solar Neighborhood. Journal of Astrophysics & Astronomy, 34(4), 297-316.
• Zakharov, A. F. (2015). Possible Alternatives to the Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center. Journal of Astrophysics & Astronomy, 36(4), 539-553.
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The Universe Could Be Eternal, According to This Controversial Theory

The idea of a static universe would mean our cosmos will live forever, and it isn’t expanding after all.

✅ Quick Facts:

• This idea says the universe is neither expanding, nor contracting; instead it is steady, and has no beginning and no end.
• But for other scientists, the suggestion is a leap in logic and the Big Bang is the best description of the creation of the universe we currently have.

What if the Big Bang , the prevailing theory of how our universe came to be, never happened? What if the universe hasn’t been expanding from a tiny dense fireball, but has instead been in a steady state for 13.8 billion years with no beginning and no end? An intriguing analysis published in Progress in Physics in 2022 claims that the Big Bang might be a bust because it relies on the Doppler effect, or Doppler shift , a landmark theory in physics that Austrian mathematician and physicist Christian Doppler proposed in 1842 .

​​The Doppler effect explains that the perceived increase or decrease in the frequency of light, sound, or other waves (note the word waves here) depends on how a source and an object move toward each other. In space, the Doppler effect influences the light planetary bodies emit: if a body in space is moving away from us, its light spreads apart, or “redshifts” (as it moves toward longer wavelengths). However, if a body is moving toward us, its lightwaves compact, or “blueshift” (because the light moves toward shorter wavelengths). This is because in space blue means near, and red means farther away; this principle is clear as day to astronomers. Measurements of starlight have so far concluded that all galaxies redshift . In other words, this evidence supports the Big Bang theory, which says the universe is constantly expanding.

But Jack Wilenchik, author of the provocative study, highly doubts whether redshift means movement. In fact, he believes the Doppler effect may actually be an Achilles’ heel that fells the Big Bang theory.

A Reason to Assume the Universe Did Not Start With a Big Bang?

“The Doppler’s effect is a 180-year old theory nobody has backed up with experimental evidence,” Wilenchik tells Popular Mechanics . To look at different planets and moons in the solar system, Wilenchik, who is a lawyer by trade and an amateur astronomer, borrowed a simple spectroscopy test English astronomer William Huggins had first used in 1868. Spectroscopy is the study and measurement of spectra , or the charts or graphs that depict the intensity of light from an astronomical body like a star. Wilenchik also used data from the Hawaii-based Keck Observatory’s spectrometers— available online —and had a professional astrophysicist process it for him. The results of his study align with a different, incompatible idea about the universe: the tired light model.

The 1929 brainchild of Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky , the tired light hypothesis attributes the universe’s redshift to the fact that photons , the tiny packets of electromagnetic energy that make up light, lose energy as they pass through the great cosmos. Therefore, a decrease or increase in energy doesn’t necessarily mean movement, so no stretching universe can exist. This model indicates that light simply loses energy over time—and so the universe must be static.

.css-2l0eat{font-family:UnitedSans,UnitedSans-roboto,UnitedSans-local,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.625rem;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;padding:0.9rem 1rem 1rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:1.75rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:1.875rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1;}}.css-2l0eat b,.css-2l0eat strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-2l0eat em,.css-2l0eat i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;} "We do not live in a world of alternative facts. We must go where the evidence points. There is nothing to suggest that the Big Bang is a myth at present."

“No, the universe did not start as an exploding atom or anything,” Wilenchik says. “There’s no beginning and no end to the universe,” he says, disputing the primeval atom theory that Belgian priest, physicist, and astronomer Georges Lemaître first proposed in 1927. (Later, astronomer Fred Hoyle coined the term “Big Bang” for Lamaitre’s cosmic origins idea, and it stuck.)

Whether a star reddens or turns bluer ultimately boils down to Isaac Newton’s corpuscular theory of light , says Wilenchik. The Newtonian theory posits that light is made up of tiny particles, or “corpuscles,” which are constantly traveling in a straight line. In essence, the blue or red shifts we see in space are simply the result of the different corpuscle sizes: a blue light means larger bodies, while a red light means smaller ones. “If light is not in waves, then there goes the Doppler theory, because the entire theory is based on the idea that light is in waves,” says Wilenchik.

But particularly intriguing is his view that galaxies are atoms and stars are light (he’s written a book about it that’s freely available online). “Since the universe neither expands nor contracts, what we have in the sky is giant spirals. And we’ve got something very strange and unique called stars,” he says.

Here’s what he means: it was in the late 1800s when Scottish-Irish physicist William Thomson, better known as Lord Kelvin , suggested that the atom is a “ vortex” in the “aether.” In full agreement, Wilenchik says atoms have spirals at their core, and so do galaxies, and so do large clusters of galaxies or supergalaxies, because the same vortex structure permeates the whole cosmos, from the macroscopic to the microscopic level. The universe is infinitely big, infinitely small, and never-ending; stars are strange bundles of light; and we need to reconsider the Doppler effect theory, Wilenchik concludes.

But not everyone agrees.

Why the Big Bang Theory Is Our Best Explanation So Far

“The premise that the Big Bang is a big bust due to its reliance on the Doppler effect is a big leap in logic. Doppler’s theory has been tested repeatedly and has held up,” Stephen Holler , Ph.D., an associate professor of physics at Fordham University, tells Popular Mechanics .

The Doppler effect is a wave phenomenon we are all familiar with. Take sound, for example. The way the pitch of a moving vehicle, especially a rapidly moving vehicle such as an ambulance or a fire truck, hurts your ears or fades away as the vehicle moves near or away from you is a fine illustration of the “compression or elongation of the wave” in relation to you, the observer, says Holler. Medical applications such as Doppler velocimetry (a test that measures blood flow and 3D ultrasound images) also owe their existence to the Doppler effect. And when it comes to the heart of Wilenchik’s argument, which is that red and blue shifts do not correspond to predictions of how planetary objects move, Holler says that we would have practically failed to engage in extraterrestrial exploration without Doppler.

“ Extraterrestrially , we have been able to reconcile the chemical composition of stars and planets by noting the correspondence of spectral lines with known lines observed from chemicals on the Earth through Doppler spectroscopy,” Holler says. True, we may never know if the Big Bang theory is correct, but currently it is our best description for the origin of the universe, he continues. “An obvious originalist who relied on others to analyze the data for him, Wilenchik highlights the primeval atom theory’s improbability,” Holler adds. But the theory entered the realms of science nearly an eon ago when evidence was just beginning to come in and be interpreted, or, in other words, when we didn’t know what we didn’t know: “We do not live in a world of alternative facts. We must go where the evidence points. There is nothing to suggest that the Big Bang is a myth at present,” Holler says.

In ancient Greek mythology, deities govern the skies and, together, the dynamics of birth and annihilation. For Wilenchik, this is no coincidence: that we still have planets named after Greek gods, (even if Romans “romanized” the names of most later on), bears some kind of cosmic symbolism. “If the divine is somebody that creates or destroys things, then galaxies might be the divine in their own way,” the Phoenix-based lawyer suggests. This symbolic heritage might go beyond theory, implies Wilenchik, drawing enticing if not esoteric parallels between the symbolic and the pragmatic. It could inspire a fresh examination of the principles of cosmological theory, such as the Doppler effect, which is crucial for comprehending the universe’s expansion.

“We could reinvestigate the Doppler theory through observing the behavior of a planet like Mercury, for which we know when it’s moving toward or away from us and how fast,” says Wilenchik. In this way, we could see whether it redshifts or blueshifts correspondingly.

An in-depth investigation like this could provide us with a deeper understanding of how the universe works, as Wilenchik suggests we’ve been too comfortable with the Big Bang theory for too long now. Did we begin with a bang or are new beginnings overrated?

Stav Dimitropoulos’s science writing has appeared online or in print for the BBC, Discover, Scientific American, Nature, Science, Runner’s World, The Daily Beast and others. Stav disrupted an athletic and academic career to become a journalist and get to know the world.

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15 Mind Blowing Facts About The Big Bang

Posted: April 19, 2024 | Last updated: April 19, 2024

Scientifically aware or not, the Big Bang theory is certainly known by many. The introduction of the concept of the Big Bang in the 1930s changed the human perception of the origin of our universe. The premise is simple: the universe was created after a sudden explosion in space, a big bang, hence the name. Read on to know 15 mind blowing facts about the Big Bang. 

Proposed & Published in the 20th Century

The Big Bang theory was proposed in the 20th century, particularly in 1927, by Georges Lemaître, a Belgian cosmologist and Catholic priest. The theory was later published in 1931. Over the following decades, the theory was further developed and refined to what is scientifically known today.

Explanation for How the Universe Began

As per the Big Bang theory, the universe began 13.8 billion years ago as a tiny, dense focal point. The theory leads to a scientific explanation using a comprehensive framework. While there are still unanswered questions and areas for further exploration, the Big Bang theory is still widely accepted as the genesis story of our universe.

Reason Behind the Name

The name ‘Big Bang' was given skeptically during a radio program by astronomer Fred Hoyle. He was using the term to mock the concept and was favoring the term Steady-State Theory.' However, the Big Bang stuck with many due to its explanation for a wide range of astronomical observations.

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation is one of the most important pieces of evidence supporting the Big Bang theory. It states that the radiation fills the universe with a faint afterglow of the hot, dense early universe.  After its discovery in 1965, it is seen as microwave radiation originating from all directions in space. 

Primordial Nucleosynthesis

The method by which light atomic nuclei (lithium, helium, and hydrogen) formed during the initial few minutes following the Big Bang is called primordial nucleosynthesis. Nuclear fusion events produced these light elements using protons and neutrons during primordial nucleosynthesis. It is, therefore, the exact ratios of these elements in the cosmos that support the Big Bang theory.

Not an Explosion in the Space

As we typically think of explosions, the Big Bang was not particularly an explosion in space. Rather, it is akin to space expansion. The surprising fact states that it does not occur at a particular place but everywhere simultaneously. The event formed galaxies, stars, and all the structures of the universe.

Universe was Initially Extremely Hot

During the first few moments of the Big Bang theory, the universe was extremely hot. In the earliest stages, the universe was full of radiation energies that increased the temperature and pressure. In just a fraction of a microsecond, the temperature reached trillion degrees! As the universe expanded and cooled over time, the temperature began to fall and stabilize.

Does Not Determine the Shape of the Universe

The Big Bang theory still does not directly determine the shape of the universe. Scientists have yet to figure out whether the universe is flat, open, or closed. According to several theories, the universe is very close to being flat. The same idea also aligns with predictions made by inflationary theory.

Does Not Explain The Initial Trigger

The Big Bang theory explains a lot about the universe. However, it does not explain what triggered the initial event or the ‘Explosion.' The theory clarifies the evolution of the universe after this initial event, but what led to the initial trigger is yet scientifically unknown. It remains unanswered in cosmology.

Once the initial burst of the Big Bang faded, the universe went into dark ages. During that period, there were no stars or galaxies emitting light, but everything around was only darkness. It was when the universe was full of a hot, ionized plasma made of hydrogen and helium atoms. 

Cooling Period and Formation of Galaxies and Stars

After the end of ‘The Dark Ages,' the universe began to cool and expand. It was when the first stars and galaxies began to form, leading towards the beginning of the cosmic dawn. Over time, the gravitational attraction also became stronger. The ‘Cooling Period' marks the transition from a hot, uniform plasma to the universe we see today.

Does Not Conflict with Religious Beliefs

Many religious traditions reconcile their beliefs with scientific explanations of the Big Bang. Scriptures like the Bible have various interpretations regarding the creation of the universe. Many civilisations view science and religion as complementary ways of understanding the world. Despite individual differences, there is no inherent conflict between the two.

Albert Einstein Once Refused the Big Bang

Albert Einstein initially had reservations about the concept of the Big Bang. His objections were not a straightforward disbelief, though. He once proposed a ‘static universe model,' suggesting the universe was eternal and unchanging. However, as astronomers discovered evidence supporting the expansion, Einstein reconsidered his take and adjusted his equations.

None Saw Big Bang

No one witnessed the Big Bang, of course, but scientists picked the evidence left behind. Things like the cosmic microwave background radiation, the way galaxies are moving away from each other, and the presence of many elements suggest the theory. For those who want to view it, there are many television documentaries and educational programs. 

Also Predicts the End of The Universe

The Big Bang also predicts the end of the universe. As per scientific evidence, the universe will end in a Big Rip/ Big Crunch/ Big Freeze. Big Rip means when the universe grows larger than gravity. Big Crunch means when the expansion cannot overcome the pull of gravity. Whereas Big Freeze means the universe shrinks in size or decreases.

The post 15 Mind Blowing Facts About The Big Bang appeared first on SheBudgets .

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The Institute for Creation Research

In April 2024, some of the world’s leading cosmologists convened at the Royal Society in London to question the cosmological principle—the assumption that the universe is the same everywhere and in every direction. 1,2 This is a highly significant development since the cosmological principle is a foundational assumption of the Big Bang model for the universe’s origin.

The cosmological principle assumes that the universe is both homogenous and isotropic . Homogeneity means the distribution of matter and energy in the universe is roughly uniform if one looks at the big picture and ignores differences at smaller distance scales. Isotropy (pronounced i-sä-tro-pee) means that every direction in the sky looks the same as every other direction in the sky. This implies there are no special or “preferred” directions in space. When cosmologists use Einstein’s theory of general relativity to study the universe, they make these two assumptions at the very beginning of their calculations because this greatly simplifies the mathematics involved. In fact, proposed creationist cosmologies have generally assumed isotropy as well, but not homogeneity. However, creationists are open to the possibility of special directions in space. Thus, conventional cosmologists questioning or challenging the cosmological principle is no small matter.

Previous Creation Science Updates have highlighted discoveries of structures in the universe that are so large they have caused even mainstream cosmologists to question the assumption of homogeneity, 3,4,5 and there are indications that the universe may not be isotropic. Even the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, admittedly one of the strongest arguments for the Big Bang, shows signs that it is not truly isotropic as it should be if the Big Bang and its accompanying inflation theory are correct. 6

Professor Subir Sarkar, a cosmologist at Oxford University and one of the organizers of the meeting, said, “We are, in cosmology, using a model that was first formulated in 1922....We have great data, but the theoretical basis is past its sell-by date.” 2

This conference follows high-profile articles questioning whether the Big Bang theory is in crisis, 7,8 which we have commented upon. 9,10

Clearly, the Big Bang model is in crisis. Yet many Christians embrace it, because it ostensibly “proves” the universe had a beginning, as taught by Genesis. Yet, the Big Bang contradicts Genesis in practically every other way, both in regard to the age of the universe and the sequence in which God brought the heavenly bodies into being. Moreover, Big Bang scientists have long sought ways to “do away” with a beginning of the universe, as the late Stephen Hawking made clear in his book A Brief History of Time . 11 It is long overdue for Christians to “wise up” and reject the Big Bang for what it really is: an “argument” and “high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” 12 The Lord Jesus Christ, not a presumed Big Bang, deserves the credit for our universe’s existence.

• Cosmology is the study of the universe at the largest scale: its structure, origin, and ultimate fate.
• Devlin, H. World’s top cosmologists convene to question conventional view of the universe . The Guardian . Posted on theguardian.com April 14, 2024, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Thomas, B. Massive Quasar Cluster Refutes Core Cosmology Principle . Creation Science Update . Posted on ICR.org January 18, 2013, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Hebert, J. Giant Galaxy Ring Shouldn’t Exist . Creation Science Update . Posted on ICR.org August 24, 2015, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Hebert, J. A Cosmic ‘Supervoid’ vs. the Big Bang . Creation Science Update . Posted on ICR.org May 7, 2015, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Hebert, J. 2018. Does the Cosmic Microwave Background Confirm the Big Bang? Acts & Facts . 47 (6): 10–14.
• Hooper, D. Is the Big Bang in Crisis? Astronomy . Posted on astronomy.com May 14, 2020, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Frank, A. and M. Gleiser. The Story of Our Universe May Be Starting to Unravel . New York Times . Posted September 2, 2023 at nytimes.com, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Hebert, J. Astronomy Magazine: Big Bang in Crisis? Creation Science Update . Posted on ICR.org May 21, 2020, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Hebert, J. New York Times Editorial: Big Bang Unraveling? Creation Science Update . Posted on ICR.org September 24, 2023, accessed April 15, 2024.
• Hawking, S. 1988. A Brief History of Time . New York, NY: Bantam Books, Chapter 8, second paragraph.
• 2 Corinthians 10:5.

* Dr. Jake Hebert is a research associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Evidence for Creation