UNIVERSE

BIG BANG THEORY

 a cosmological model explaining how the
universe began.
 It suggests that the universe started its
expansion about 13.8 billion years ago.
 in 1931, A Belgian priest, Georges Henri Joseph
Edouard Lemaître suggested the idea of the
expanding universe. He is considered as the first
proponent of the big bang theory. In 1931, during
the British Association meeting, he explained that
the universe originated in an explosive act of
primeval atom or the ‘Cosmic egg’ which was like a
huge atomic nucleus. The immense energy from
the explosion of this prime valatom was
sufficient to initiate the expansion of the
universe.
 However, his theory was unrecognized by most
cosmologists since it was not supported by
empirical evidence at that time. Lemaître
thought that if the universe came from a hot
state, it would leave traces that can be subjected
for analysis.
 He then realized that there were indeed traces in
the form of cosmic rays.
 He explained that the cosmic rays were “ashes and
smoke of bright but very rapid fireworks,” and they
originated when the primeval atom disintegrated.
 He first visualized that the primeval atom would
disintegrate into atomic stars. Then as the atomic
stars disintegrate, they would produce cosmic rays
and become ordinary matter. Therefore, cosmic rays
were not the direct product of primeval atom but
rather, of the early formation of the stars 10 billion
years ago. In his publication, he stated that “Cosmic
rays would be glimpses of the primeval fireworks of
the formation of a star from an atom, coming to us
after their long journey through free space.”
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 The big bang theory was supported by other
scientists such as Edwin Hubble, Arno
Penzias, and Robert Wilson who presented
pieces of evidence to support it.
 An American astronomer who established the
Hubble’s law which provided an evidence that the
universe was not static but expanding.
 In 1923, Hubble spotted what he thought as a
flaring nova star in the M31 nebula or the
Andromeda constellation (now known as
Andromeda galaxy, the nearest galaxy in the Milky
Way), using a Hooker telescope.
 Hubble carefully studied the photographic plates
captured by other astronomers and realized that
what he saw was a Cepheid star ― a star that
pulsates radially, brightening and dimming
periodically.
 Hubble used this radial pulse to measure the
distance of the star from Earth. Based on his
calculations, he was able to postulate the existence
of other galaxies. He noted that there was more to
the universe beyond the Milky Way.
 He then began to classify other nebulae, measuring
their velocities based on their emitted spectral
lights. Then in 1929, he noticed that all the galaxies
seemed to be moving away from Earth with
velocities that increased in proportion to their
distance.
 This means that the amount of redshift is
proportional to the distance of the galaxy, i.e.
nearby galaxies have smaller redshifts than distant
galaxies. This relationship of the velocities of
distant objects in the universe in proportion to their
distance from Earth is called Hubble’s law.
BIG BANG THEORY
• He published a report in the same year about his
discovery. This ultimately supported Lemaître’s
proposal of the expanding universe.
BIG BANG THEORY
 American astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert
Wilson studied the cosmic radiation in 1964.
 They discovered that microwaves with wavelengths
of about 7 centimeters were present in space. These
waves were referred to as the Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB) radiation.
 CMB radiation is believed to be the thermal energy
released when the ionized gases became neutral
particles as the early universe cooled down. This
radiation served like a ‘leftover’ when the universe
was formed.
 The discovery of this cosmic radiation provided a
strong evidence that the universe began from the
sudden expansion of a singularity, which supported
Lemaître’s study.
 The big bang theory suggests that the universe
started as a “singularity”—an area predicted to be in
the core of a black hole with very high temperature
and density.
 The nature of the singularity is still a mystery to
many scientists, but they stated that this singularity
constantly expands and cools. The rate of expansion
is almost equal to the rate of cooling.
 The intense heat led to the formation of matter and
antimatter particles that were destroyed every time
they collided with each other.
Fig. 1 The expansion of the universe
according to the big bang theory
Nucleosynthesis
• the formation of
elements, such as
hydrogen and helium.

• The presence of these

elements led to the
formation of the stars
and the galaxies. The
presence of the stars led
to the formation of other
cosmic bodies such as
planets, comets, and
asteroids.