The Big Bang Theory

• About 15 billion years ago the expansion of the

universe started . This expansion is known as the
Big Bang. At the point of this event all of the
matter and energy of space was contained at
one point.
• What existed prior to this event is completely
unknown and is a matter of pure speculation.
This occurrence was not a conventional
expansion but rather an event filling all of space
with all of the particles of the embryonic
universe rushing away from each other.
What is Big
Bang Theory?
• The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation about how the
universe began. At its simplest, it talks about the universe as
we know it starting with a small singularity, then inflating
over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know
today.

• The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model for

the universe from the earliest known periods through its
subsequent large-scale evolution. The model accounts for the
fact that the universe expanded from a very high density and
high temperature state,[4][5] and offers a comprehensive
explanation for a broad range of phenomena, including the
abundance of light elements, the cosmic microwave
background, large scale structure and Hubble's Law.
The origin of the Big Bang theory can be credited to
Edwin Hubble. Hubble made the observation that
the universe is continuously expanding. He
discovered that a galaxys velocity is proportional to
its distance.
Another consequence is that the universe is
expanding in every direction. This observation
means that it has taken every galaxy the same
amount of time to move from a common starting
position to its current position. Just as the Big Bang
provided for the foundation of the universe,
Hubbles observations provided for the foundation of
the Big Bang theory. 
Since the Big Bang, the universe has been
continuously expanding and, thus, there has
been more and more distance between clusters
of galaxies. This phenomenon of galaxies
moving farther away from each other is known
as the red shift. As light from distant galaxies
approach earth there is an increase of space
between earth and the galaxy, which leads to
wavelengths being stretched. 
 Time begins
• The universe begins
~13.7 Billion years ago
• The universe begins as
the size of a single
atom
• The universe began as
a violent expansion
– All matter and space
were created from a
single point of pure
energy in an instant
 ~ 3 minutes after big bang
• The universe has grown from
the size of an atom to larger
than the size a grapefruit
• energy froze into matter
according to Albert Einstein’s
equation.
• This basically says that like
snowflakes freezing, energy
forms matter into clumps that
today we call protons, neutrons
and electrons.
• These parts later form into
atoms
~ Several hundred thousand years
after Big Bang
• ATOMS form
(specifically
Hydrogen and its
isotopes with a
small amount of
Helium.)
• The early Universe
was about 75%
Hydrogen and 25%
Helium. It is still
almost the same
today.
~200 to 400 million years
after Big Bang
• 1st stars
and
galaxies
form
 ~ 4.6 billion years ago
• Our
Solar
system
forms
Misconceptions about the Big Bang
• there was no explosion; there was (and continues
to be) an expansion
– Rather than imagining a balloon popping and
releasing its contents, imagine a balloon expanding:
an infinitesimally small balloon expanding to the size
of our current universe
• we tend to image the singularity as a little fireball
appearing somewhere in space
– space began inside of the singularity. Prior to the
singularity, nothing existed, not space, time, matter,
or energy - nothing.
Big Bang Timeline –
•Big Bang – energy
Include, label and color
•Matter
1.What happened •E=mc2
2.When each event (thing) •protons
happened •Neutrons
•electrons
•Atoms
•Hydrogen
•helium
•Stars and galaxies
•Our solar system
•Sun and all planets
•Earth (present day)
 Big Bang evidence
1) Universal expansion and Hubble’s Law
2) 3 degree background radiation
3) Quasars
4) Radioactive decay
5) Stellar formation and evolution
6) Speed of light and stellar distances
 1. Universal expansion and Hubble’s Law
a) Hubble observed the majority of galaxies are
moving away from us and each other
b) The farther, the faster they move
c) Red Shift
 2. Back ground radiation
a) Noise radiation (static) is
evenly spread across space
b) The amount of radiation
matched predictions
c) C.O.B.E satellite confirmed for
the entire universe that noise
radiation (static) is evenly
spread
d) Law of conservation of energy
(energy can neither be created
or destroyed) – energy remains
constant over time
3. Quasars - super large (solar system size) galactic
cores that put out more light than whole galaxies

• Only found 10-15

billion light years
away
• Found nowhere
else
• Nothing exists past
them
 4. Radioactive decay
• Radiometric dating – gives
us the age of items from
the decay of radioactive
materials found within the
object
• Moon rocks have been
dated and found to be
older than Earth
– Gives us an estimated time
that Earth and the Moon
formed
5. Stellar formation and evolution

• We observe the life

cycles of stars
across the universe
using tools such as
satellites and
telescopes
• we view stars form,
burn and explode
6. Speed of light and stellar distances
• The speed of light is a universal
constant of 300,000 km/s2
• We observe stars millions/billions of
light-years away
• A light-year is the distance that light
travels in 1 year – the light we see
today from a star 500 light years
away is 500 years old
• The furthest stars away are 10-15
billion light years away
• We have telescopes that can see
further, but there isn’t anything
viewable
LASTLY – we are pretty sure everything has
a beginning, right?
STELLAR EVOLUTION

Stellar Evolution is a description of the way

that stars change with time.
All stars are born from collapsing clouds of gas and dust,
often called nebulae or molecular clouds. Over the course
of millions of years, these protostars settle down into a
state of equilibrium, becoming what is known as a main-
sequence star.
 nebula is an interstellar cloud
of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized
gases. Originally, nebula was a name for any
diffuse astronomical object, including galaxies
beyond the Milky Way. 

main sequence is a continuous and distinctive band

of stars that appears on plots of stellar color versus
brightness
Nucleosynthesis
formation of heavier elements within star: the synthesis of
heavier elements from lighter elements by fusion reactions
within stars.

Nucleosynthesis is the process that creates new atomic

nuclei from pre-existing nucleons, primarily protons and
neutrons. The first nuclei were formed about three minutes
after the Big Bang, through the process called Big Bang
nucleosynthesis. It was then
thathydrogen and helium formed to become the content of
the first stars, and this primeval process is responsible for
the present hydrogen/helium ratio of the cosmos.
Stellar nucleosynthesis is the process by which the natural abundances of
the Chemical elements within stars change due to nuclear fusion reactions in
the cores and overlying mantles of stars. Stars are said to evolve (age) with
changes in the abundances of the elements within. Core fusion increases the
atomic weight of its gaseous elements, causing pressure loss and contraction
accompanied by increase of temperature. Stars lose most of their mass
when it is ejected late in their stellar lifetimes, thereby increasing the
abundance of elements heavier than helium in the interstellar medium. The
term supernova nucleosynthesis is used to describe the creation of elements
during the evolution and explosion of a presupernova star, as Fred
Hoyle advocated presciently in 1954. One stimulus to the development of the
theory of nucleosynthesis was the variations in the abundance of elements in
the universe. found in the universe. Those abundances, when plotted on a
graph as a function of atomic number of the element, have a jagged saw
tooth shape that varies by factors of tens of millions. This suggested a natural
process other than a random distribution. Such a graph of the abundances
can be seen at History of nucleosynthesis. Stellar nucleosynthesis is the
dominating contributor to several processes that also occur under the
collective term nucleosynthesis.
A second stimulus to understanding the processes of
stellar nucleosynthesis occurred during the 20th century,
when it was realized that the energy released from
nuclear fusion reactions accounted for the longevity of
the Sun as a source of heat and light.[3] The fusion of
nuclei in a star, starting from its initial hydrogen and
helium abundance, provides that energy and synthesizes
new nuclei as a by product of that fusion process. This
became clear during the decade prior to World War II.
The fusion-produced nuclei are restricted to those only
slightly heavier than the fusing nuclei; thus they do not
contribute heavily to the natural abundances of the
elements. Nonetheless, this insight raised the plausibility
of explaining all of the natural abundances of elements in
this way. The prime energy producer in the sun is
the fusion of hydrogen to form helium, which occurs at a
solar-core temperature of 14 million kelvin.