The Dream

Imagine traveling back in time long, long ago. As you reach your destination, you see that it is pitch black. There is nobody else in sight. When you look around you see something off in the distance which looks like a little ball. As the ball comes closer, you see that it is condensing rapidly, getting smaller and tighter together. Suddenly, the ball explodes. The explosion and debris are getting closer to you. Your eyes flash open, and you figure out that it was all just a dream. As you wake up, you realize that you just witnessed the Big Bang!

The Big Bang

Nobody is really sure how the universe and everything in it was created. Most scientists believe in a theory called the Big Bang. Scientists have not proven this theory, but they believe it is the most logical explanation so far.

How It Happened

The Big Bang theory states that our universe was packed up into a big ball of atoms called the Solar Nebula. As the Solar Nebula kept condensing, it got tighter and tighter. Eventually, it created an enormous explosion. After the explosion the Solar Nebula spilt up into many different regions which we now call galaxies. The galaxies were made up of gases and dust. After some time, the gases and dust condensed into planets, stars, and other space objects.

The Sun

The sun was created when the Solar Nebula exploded, and all of the left over materials and gases in our solar system that weren’t used to make space objects were pulled toward the center of the solar system. Soon, with all of the leftover materials and gas in the center of the solar system, the pressure became so great that nuclear reactions began to start, and then the sun let out its beams of light. Later, the sun started to produce solar winds, which are gases that flow continuously from the sun.

Chris Larocco, Blair Rothein. The Big Bang: It Sure Was Big! <http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/bigbang.htm> Last visited: December, 2001.

Parker, David. Science Explorer Astronomy. Upper Saddle River: Science Photo Library/ Photo Researchers, 2001.

Space: Everything You Need to Know and Beyond. </J0112388/> Last visited: December, 2000.

Space: Today, Tomorrow, and Always. </J0112188/> Last visited: December, 2001.

Send us an email

All pictures courtesy of NASA unless otherwise noted