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| The Universe The Universe is a vast expanse of space which contains all of the matter and energy in existence. The Universe contains all of the galaxies, stars, and planets. The exact size of the Universe is unknown. Scientists believe the Universe is still expanding outward. They believe this outward expansion is the result of a violent, powerful explosion that occurred about 13.7 billion years ago. This explosion is known as the Big Bang. By looking at an object's electromagnetic spectrum, scientists can determine if an object is moving away from Earth or towards Earth.
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When distant objects, such as quasars (a distant energy source which gives off vast amounts of radiation, including radio waves and X-rays), are viewed from Earth, their spectrum (a band of colors which forms when visible light passes through a prism. The band ranges in color from violet, shorter wavelength, to red longer wavelength) is shifted towards red. Whenever there is a shift in a spectrum, it is called a Doppler Shift. If the shift is toward red, the light given off by the object is in longer wavelengths. When an object moves away from Earth, the light that it is giving off is seen in longer wavelengths. When an object moves toward Earth, the light that it is giving off is seen in shorter wavelengths. This causes a shift in the object's spectrum towards violet. The amount of shift in an object's spectrum is determined by how fast the object is moving. All of the distant galaxies have tremendous red shifts. Based on these data, scientists believe the Universe is still expanding outward. |
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Our Sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy. If you were looking down on the Milky Way, it would look like a large pinwheel rotating in space. Our Galaxy is a spiral galaxy that formed approximately 14 billion years ago. Contained in the Milky Way are stars, clouds of dust and gas called nebulae, planets, and asteroids. Stars, dust, and gas fan out from the center of the Galaxy in long spiraling arms. |
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The Milky Way The Milky Way is approximately 100,000 light-years in diameter. Our solar system is 26,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy. All objects in the Galaxy revolve around the Galaxy's center. It takes 250 million years for our Sun to pull us through one revolution around the center of the Milky Way. The stars we see over our head every night are also members of the Milky Way family.
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The Big Bang The Universe is believed to have been created about 13.7 billion years ago. 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 explosion but rather an event filling all of space with all of the particles of the embryonic universe rushing away from each other. The Big Bang actually consisted of an explosion of space within itself unlike an explosion of a bomb were fragments are thrown outward. The galaxies were not all clumped together, but rather the Big Bang lay the foundations for the universe.
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| 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. Galaxies that are twice as far from us move twice as fast. 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.
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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. In addition to the understanding of the velocity of galaxies emanating from a single point, there is further evidence for the Big Bang. In 1964, two astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, in an attempt to detect microwaves from outer space, inadvertently discovered a noise of extraterrestrial origin. The noise did not seem to emanate from one location but instead, it came from all directions at once. It became obvious that what they heard was radiation from the farthest reaches of the universe which had been left over from the Big Bang. This discovery of the radioactive aftermath of the initial explosion lent much credence to the Big Bang theory. |
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Even more recently, NASAs COBE satellite was able to detect cosmic microwaves eminating from the outer reaches of the universe. These microwaves were remarkably uniform which illustrated the homogenity of the early stages of the universe. However, the satillite also discovered that as the universe began to cool and was still expanding, small fluctuations began to exist due to temperature differences. These flucuatuations verified prior calculations of the possible cooling and development of the universe just fractions of a second after its creation. These fluctuations in the universe provided a more detailed description of the first moments after the Big Bang. They also helped to tell the story of the formation of galaxies which will be discussed in the next chapter. |
| The Big Bang theory provides a viable solution to one of the most pressing questions of all time. It is important to understand, however, that the theory itself is constantly being revised. As more observations are made and more research conducted, the Big Bang theory becomes more complete and our knowledge of the origins of the universe more substantial. |
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