It's inevitable that with over 6 billion people here on Earth, there will be different views upon how our universe was created. Views are mainly fueled by faith or science but the modern view of today's era is the Big Bang Theory. The theory states that the universe started at one single spot, and has been expanding ever since (Big Bang Theory, N.
P. ). Of course it's crazy, and highly difficult, for many of us to imagine something so large starting from one tiny spot; so indeed there are faults in the theory.Modern science however strongly supports this idea and truth be told, it's the best we have. The theory estimates that the universe is about 13. 7 billion years old! This means that if this theory is correct, everything surrounding earth has been expanding for an extreme amount of time.
Many questions, and in some ways problems, arise from this. What happens when we stretch too far? Will we one day collide with another universe? What happens if we suddenly stop? All these, along with many more, are among the many reasons that this theory does indeed have issues.Regardless of the issues, being backed by an overwhelming pile of evidence leads it to be the most widely supported theory among all scientists across the universe itself. Among the evidence is a study upon radiation and most importantly, a study involving the Doppler Affect.
The theory itself does have flaws; however, considering the vast amount of evidence, our population's majority believes in the big bang theory and scientists today are trying their hardest to address the problems with the theory.In explaining what the big bang really was, it's key that we understand that the big bang did not happen inside the universe, rather it started the universe. With no big bang we would be left with nothing. In essence it was an explosion but not in the sense that we would think of, space itself was actually exploding. At the instance of the explosion (time zero) there was a vast amount of heat and density.
To be exact the temperature was around 1,000 billion degrees Kelvin and had a density that of nuclear matter, 1014 grams per cubic centimeter(The Big Bang, N. P. ).When the heat and density became to be too much, an explosion occurred resulting in a spec.
From that spec, expansion occurred and from the expansion, the universe became what it is today. The radiation resulting from explosion gave birth to an unimaginably large number of particles and antiparticles. They bound together to form a sort of energy. Eventually the universe had cooled down to the point that particles stopped binding, from there the one billion left over particles settled down to become stable matter. In what can hardly be considered a fraction of a second after time zero the temperature dropped 90 percent of what it was.
Another fraction later it had dropped all the way down to 30 billion K and after about 3 minutes of time the temperature was low enough for helium to be formed and stick together. In basic terms, as the temperature dropped more and more particles, electrons, protons, etc. were being created. Over the next 500,000 years the background radiation decoupled and from there it had no more significant interaction with matter. About 1 million years after time zero, stars and galaxies could begin to form and from there the inside stars turn helium and hydrogen into other elements that were heavier.
The heaviness is what eventually lead to the creation of our Sun, the Earth, and all the other planets. The universe was left to expand and cool from there and has been doing so ever sense (The Big Bang, N. P. ). Since then we have been left to contemplate what really is going on our enormous universe. There are many contributing scientists to pieces of the big bang theory but one in particular is vastly important, Georges Lemaitre, the creator of the theory.
He first suggested the big bang theory in the 1920s when he theorized that the universe began from a single primordial atom.From that point many scientists and astrologers leant their hands out to the theory including Edwin Hubble who observed that galaxies are speeding away from us in all directions and by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson who co discovered cosmic microwave radiation (Origins, N. P. ).
Lemaitre's idea of the single atom is the spec earlier mentioned. When Edwin Hubble comes along and states this bizarre notion it brings many questions to mind but he backs his statements up well by using the Doppler Effect. Hubble didn't create the idea of the Doppler Effect but he did put it to the greatest use possible.The idea of the Doppler Effect is usually applied to sound.
Sound consists of waves ranging from a high to a low frequency. As an object approaches us the frequency of these waves become higher, and then lower as it passes. The same idea can be applied to light waves. We can see this using a spectrum which has a different color for different frequencies.
If the color being read from the spectrum is leaning toward the red side, then the frequency is low meaning the object is moving away from us. Applying this idea to distant stars and galaxies proved that they are moving away from us.This idea shows that the universe is indeed expanding. Perhaps one of the most important pieces of evidence that further supports the Big Bang Theory was one accidently stumbled upon. It's the idea of cosmic microwave background radiation.
It's known that the universe is filled with a sea of radiation. At the time of the bang it was extremely hot and then it cooled and expanded. There came a point during the expansion that the radiation decoupled from the matter. That radiation was set at a temperature of 2. 7 degrees Kelvin which is the exact temperature it's found at today (Cosmic, N.
P. ).Of course the overwhelming amount of evidence has only lead to more questions. With proof of the big bang questions arise involving why the bang occurred or what was before the bang.
Elements of religion sometimes collide with the theory and cause conflicts. Some say that the universe has too large of a structure to form in the time frame the theory gives. Others say that the existence of the cosmic radiation is heated by starlight instead of left over heat from the bang (Research, N. P. ).
There will always be conflicts, interests, and unanswered questions. The complexity of the universe may never fully be understood.Although this may be the case, there will always be breakthrough discoveries, brilliant scientists, and astonishing technological advances helping us understand what is truly happening. As we become more open minded as a population some are beginning to use religion and this theory to help answer each other. NASA is using their Hubble Space Telescope in their research to help further understand the universe.
Recently the Hubble took a snapshot that reveals the first galaxies to emerge the time shortly after the big bang when the first stars reheated the cold, dark universe (NASA, N. P. ).The new image should offer new insights into what is going on in the universe and offer more information on the history of our amazing universe.
In the simplest terms possible, the Big Bang Theory is one that states the universe started off as a spec from a huge bang. It also states that the universe started extremely hot and dense and has been cooling and expanding ever sense. This theory is the most accepted theory we currently have for a reason. It's in depth, it answers many questions, and most importantly it has scientific backing evidence.
If the idea of the cosmic background radiation being found everywhere or the study of the Doppler Effect isn't convincing enough maybe in the near future other evidence could help lead the way to changing those views. The theory has been around for years and has always been using building blocks to establish itself one by one. Who knows when the next building block will be found or who will be the one to find it. With the telescopes in space and the scientists on earth we may be able to eventually answer everything; however, at this point in time we know we cannot.Works Citedhttp://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/The%20Big%20Bang%20Theory.htmhttp://aether.lbl.gov/www/science/cmb.htmlhttp://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/hubble_UDF.htmlhttp://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/origins-universe-article.html
