Big bang theory

The Big Bang Theory

Man has always been fascinated by the wonders of our planet and even the things outside our planet have touched man 's curiosity and attention . Over the years man has been seeking knowledge on how the universe has been created . A number of theories that explains the formation of the universe have been made . Among the various theories that explains the origin of the universe it is the big bang theory that is widely accepted (Guiness 4

The big bang theory postulates that around 12 to 14 billion

years ago , the portion of the universe we can see today was only a few millimeters across . It has since expanded from this hot dense state into the vast and much cooler cosmos we currently inhabit (LaRocco and Rothstein . It is believed that over a short period of time the universe was formed from the expansion of a small hot mass with a temperature of approximately 100 ,000 million0Celsius . Galaxies and stars were formed through the mixture of hydrogen and helium ions during the time when the universe was constantly expanding (Guiness Encyclopedia 4

The big bang theory was conceptualized based on two theoretical pillars , the theory of general relativity and the theory of cosmological principle . The theory of general relativity was first established by Albert Einstein . According to this theory , gravity is no longer described by a gravitational field but rather it is supposed to be a distortion of space and time itself . This was simplified by physicist John Wheeler when he said Matter tells space how to curve , and space tells matter how to move (Cosmology . On the other hand , the theory of cosmological principle hypothesizes that the matter in the universe is homogeneous and isotropic when average over very large scales . These two are being tested continuously as we actually observe the distribution of galaxies on ever larger scales (Cosmology

Through the years an increasing knowledge and understanding of the universe has been done . Astronomers have been able to detect the `echo from the big bang in the form of microwave radiation which was predicted by George Gamow in 1948 . With the discovery of microwave radiation astronomers also found out that there is an unequal distribution of galaxies and empty spaces in the universe which pose a question to the big bang theory on how the universe became distorted (Guiness 5 . Though this discovery questioned the big bang theory , it further strengthened our understanding of the universe

In addition , it was also found out that galaxies are moving . According to Edwin Hubble , the speed at which the galaxy is moving away from our planet is directly proportional to its distance such that the more distant a galaxy is the faster it is receding (Guiness 5 . This discovery of Hubble was base on the theory of Sir William Huggins the red shift . The red shift is known to be the moving away of the stars from the Earth . It has been observed that the stars tending...