Introduction
Nobody knows how the universe began, but the most common theory is the big bang. According to this, the universe was formed from an immense explosion 13 billion years ago. Before the big bang, everything in the universe was packed into a tiny area, smaller than the nucleus of an atom. This point was called a singularity and was incredibly hot. It was released in an explosion so powerful that all of the matter in the singularity was blasted into an area larger than a galaxy in less than a fraction of second.
How it happened?
The big bang was an unimaginably powerful explosion of energy that sent particles flying in every direction. A process called inflation meant that it grew from the size of a miniscule particle to an area bigger than the whole milky way in a fraction of a second. Moments later, it began to cool in a soup of atomic particles.
The atomic fireball cooled further as it expanded, changing into a foggy cloud of matter. This cloud was so dense that even rays of light could not travel far inside. Energetic, unstable atomic particles began to clump together within the first 3 minutes, forming more stable groups. These were the building blocks of everything in the universe.
After thousands of years, the temperature in the universe fell to a few thousand degrees. This change in the temperature caused the atomic particles to alter their form, and the thick fog cleared away. Galaxies of stars began to form, and the universe became as transparent as it is today.
Evidence
There is very strong evidence to support the theory of the big bang. The strongest proof is a weak signal that has been detected in space. This is thought to be an echo from an energy released by the force of the big bang. In 1992, the Cosmic Background Explorer, found weak ripples in the background radiation of space. Scientists think this may be the afterglow of the big bang. However, for the big bang theory to be correct, the universe must contain more matter than we know about. If the universe contains merely the matter we know, its expansions would have happened too quickly for galaxies to form.
Other theories
There have only been a handful of scientific alternatives to big bang theory. The most famous of these was the steady state theory, which suggested that the universe has no beginning and no end, and that though the universe is expanding, it stays in perfect balance over time, like a washing up bowl kept topped up by a tap. Nowadays, the steady state theory has been dismissed by most scientists because of the abundance of proof of the big bang.
Nobody knows how the universe began, but the most common theory is the big bang. According to this, the universe was formed from an immense explosion 13 billion years ago. Before the big bang, everything in the universe was packed into a tiny area, smaller than the nucleus of an atom. This point was called a singularity and was incredibly hot. It was released in an explosion so powerful that all of the matter in the singularity was blasted into an area larger than a galaxy in less than a fraction of second.
How it happened?
The big bang was an unimaginably powerful explosion of energy that sent particles flying in every direction. A process called inflation meant that it grew from the size of a miniscule particle to an area bigger than the whole milky way in a fraction of a second. Moments later, it began to cool in a soup of atomic particles.
The atomic fireball cooled further as it expanded, changing into a foggy cloud of matter. This cloud was so dense that even rays of light could not travel far inside. Energetic, unstable atomic particles began to clump together within the first 3 minutes, forming more stable groups. These were the building blocks of everything in the universe.
After thousands of years, the temperature in the universe fell to a few thousand degrees. This change in the temperature caused the atomic particles to alter their form, and the thick fog cleared away. Galaxies of stars began to form, and the universe became as transparent as it is today.
Evidence
There is very strong evidence to support the theory of the big bang. The strongest proof is a weak signal that has been detected in space. This is thought to be an echo from an energy released by the force of the big bang. In 1992, the Cosmic Background Explorer, found weak ripples in the background radiation of space. Scientists think this may be the afterglow of the big bang. However, for the big bang theory to be correct, the universe must contain more matter than we know about. If the universe contains merely the matter we know, its expansions would have happened too quickly for galaxies to form.
Other theories
There have only been a handful of scientific alternatives to big bang theory. The most famous of these was the steady state theory, which suggested that the universe has no beginning and no end, and that though the universe is expanding, it stays in perfect balance over time, like a washing up bowl kept topped up by a tap. Nowadays, the steady state theory has been dismissed by most scientists because of the abundance of proof of the big bang.
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