Big Bang Theory

Big Bang Theory

We certainly know that our universe exists, however, this knowledge alone has not satisfied mankind's quest for further understanding. Our curiosity has led us to question our place in this universe and furthermore, the place of the universe itself. Throughout time we have asked ourselves these questions: How did our universe begin? How old is our universe? How did matter come to exist? Obviously, these are not simple questions and throughout our brief history on this planet much time and effort has been spent looking for some clue. Yet, after all this energy has been expended, much of what we know is still only speculation. Yet in 1927 a man by the name of Georges Lemaitre from Belgium proposed that the universe began with a bang. "He proposed that a primeval atom exploded and that is how the universe formed itself. His proposal came after observing the red shift in distant nebulas by astronomers to a model of the universe based on relativity." Before I was enrolled in Survey of Astronomy I wasn't sure what to believe. But after sitting through the class I started to realize that all the pieces are starting to fit together like, why the galaxies are increasing in velocity away from us and also explaining the cosmic background radiation.

About 15 billion years ago a tremendous explosion started the expansion of the universe. This explosion is known as the Big Bang. At the point of this event all of the matter and energy of space was contained at one point. What existed prior to this event is completely unknown and is a matter of pure speculation. This occurrence was not a conventional explosion but rather an event filling all of space with all of the particles of the embryonic universe rushing away from each other. The Big Bang actually consisted of an explosion of space within itself unlike an explosion of a bomb were fragments are thrown outward. The galaxies were not all clumped together, but rather the Big Bang lay the foundations for the universe. Even more recently, NASA's COBE satellite was able to detect cosmic microwaves emanating from the outer reaches of the universe. These microwaves were remarkably uniform which illustrated the beginning of the early stages of the universe. However, the satellite also discovered that as the universe began to cool and was still expanding, small fluctuations began to exist due to temperature differences.