The Big Bang

The Beginning of Time

Scientists are still confused by the theory of the Big Bang. More and more evidence has proved this theory is correct, but how can it be. A big bang creating the universe? If the theory is correct, what was there before the big bang happened? Life on Earth will be pondering this topic for years to come; they may never find the real answer. But, we have come a long way from the mysterious beginning of life on Earth.

An Aftershock

In 1965, scientists at Bell Labs discovered radiation coming from the sky. They discovered an aftershock from the time of the Big Bang. Since everything in space takes many, many light years to travel somewhere, the edge of the universe sent us something from back in time. The bang made radiation waves and started to travel through the universe. Eventually, it got to us on Earth. You couldn’t see these radiation waves without a radiation telescope. Also, they didn’t cause any damage by not creating earthquakes. This is a major discovery and adds more evidence to the proof of this theory.

A New Discovery

The father of the Big Bang theory also created a very popular telescope. The telescope was called the Hubble telescope; it was named after Edwin Hubble. The telescope has provided us with clues as to what elements were present following the creation. Scientists using the Hubble have found the element boron in extremely ancient stars. Edwin Hubble thought before the Big Bang there was no "before." He said that everything was condensed and just blew up. The atoms moved so far and so fast away from each other that it caused the universe to cool. Also as the atoms hit each other, galaxies, stars, planets, and even black holes were created.

Timeline of the Big Bang

Time	Temp (F)	Event
0 sec	-----	Time, space, matter, and energy are born
10^-43sec	10³²	Gravity becomes a separate force
10^-35 sec	10²⁸	Universe expands faster
10^-33sec	10²⁸	Universe has doubled its size hundreds of times
10^-12 sec	10¹⁶	Electromagnetism splits from the weak force
10^-6 sec	10¹³	Quarks combine to make protons, neutrons, and other particles
1 sec	10 billion	Neutrons stop interacting with other particles almost completely
100 sec	1 billion	Protons and neutrons combine to build light nuclei
300,000 years	6,000	First atoms are formed
1 million years	1,000	Gas clouds form, first stars are born
15 billion years	-454	Present day

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Space: Today, Tomorrow, and Always

Novi Meadows Elementary School 2001

Unless otherwise noted, all images courtesy of NASA. Permission for use at http://www.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/guideline.html.

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