The Big Bang Theory Essay

big bang theory, the first second after the universe came into existence when the temperatures in the surroundings were about 10 billion degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 billion Celsius). NASA strongly supports this information. The cosmos is believed to have contained a wide array of fundamental particles. The particles that were thought to be in the cosmos included protons, neutrons, and electrons. These particles underwent decay and combination due to the drop in the temperatures of the universe.

Scientists were not able to explore the primordial soup decisively because it could not manage to carry light. The existence of the free electrons could have caused the light’s protons to scatter just like the sun scatters from the clouds’ water droplets. NASA stated that this later formed a union between the nuclease and the electrons. The combination of the nuclei and the electrons led to the formation of the neutral atoms. The structure of the neutral atoms allowed light to shine for a period of not less than 380,000 years after the big bang theory (Zakharov, 2015).

The afterglow is a name used to refer to the early light years of the big bang. The first light years are also known as cosmic microwave background (CMB). The first predictions were made by Ralph Alpher with the help of fellow scientists who aided him in his predictions in 1948. His predictions were found about 20 years later almost by accident. These predictions were identified by Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias, who both belonged to the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey as they were setting up a radio receiver in 1965. They picked up temperatures that were extremely higher

than the expected average temperatures. NASA, at first, thought that the anomaly was as a result of the pigeon’s dung. The defect persisted even after the killing of the pigeons and cleaning of the mess. The pigeons had roosted in the antenna.

Cosmic Background Explanation

The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) is also known as cosmic background radiation. It is a radiation that is electromagnetic in nature and which fills the universe. The only possible way to detect the radiation is by the use of radio telescope. Radio telescope makes the radiation show as a faint glow.

The radiation is a leftover from the early advancement of the universe. Scientists have tried to investigate how the cosmic radiation was formed and the influence that this radiation has on the universe. According to Zakharov (2015), cosmic radiation formed the landmark proof of the big bang theory. Before the planets and the stars were created, the universe was much hotter, smaller, and full of a uniform glow. These conditions were as a result of the accumulation of a deep fog of hydrogen plasma. With time the universe expanded. The expansion made the radiation and the plasma to grow colder. With decreased temperatures, stable atoms started forming and this led to a situation where these components could not absorb radiation any longer. This made the universe transparent unlike initially when an opaque fog filled it. The CMBR was found to be one of the most significant isotropic components that were unevenly distributed in the space. The Far-Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) instrument, measures the spectrum of the cosmic background radiation. Cosmic background radiation is the most accurately measured black-body spectrum in nature.

Cosmic background radiation forms the key prediction of the big bang theory. The inflationary cosmology made a prediction that the new universe experienced an explosive growth that leveled out almost all homogeneities within 10 to 37 seconds. This was then followed by a specific phase of transition that put into place the ultimate forces and the fundamental particles in their present form.

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe

NASA launched a space ship which started its operations in 2001 to 2010. The space ship was supposed to measure the temperature differences of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) across the sky. CMB is the remaining radiant heat from the Big Bang Theory. The spacecraft was initially known as the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP). This name was later changed to Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The mission was a joint partnership between NASA and Professor Charles Benedict of Johns Hopkins University. The WMAP spaceship was launched from Florida on June 30, 2001.The mission was a great success; the spacecraft was able to record all the intended data. This mission succeeded another assignment called the COBE mission, which was the second medium class spaceship regarding the NASA Explorers program. All the missions had one goal and aimed to achieve the same thing. The goal was to give credit and provide more proofs and evidence of the Big Bang theory. In 2010, WMAP was switched off. This was due to the launch of superior and more advanced Plank spacecraft in 2009 by ESA.

WMAP’s measurements had a significant role to play towards establishing the present standard model of cosmology. Some of the cosmological models include the Lambda-CDM model. The data that had been collected

by WMAP gave some variations in temperature as a result of intense sound waves. The intense sound waves were found to echo through the early universe after the big bang. This anisotropy shed some light due to variations in the density that made the matter to coalesce later. The galaxies and stars of the present universe were as a result of this coalescing. WMAP played an important role in the determination of the age of the universe. Based on the revelations that were collected from this experiment, the scientists found that that the age of the earth was 13.8 billion years. Data from the WMAP indicate that the very first stars in the universe came into being about half a billion years after the big bang. The mission has won some awards as recorded in science magazine.

Gravitational Wave Controversy

There was an announcement earlier this year by researchers who had a telescope at the South Pole called the BICEP. The announced that they had acquired evidence for the gravity waves that are as a result of the Big Bang itself. The results that will be obtained would be used to provide evidence on why the big bang left its mark in the modern-day universe. However, Mathew Francis has other suggestions concerning the same. According to his views, he suggested that the discovery was not as conclusive as it should be.

Cosmic Microwave Background provides some information that helps us understand the big bang theory. Evidence shows that all the consistent were with inflation. Although there has been no evidence showing a signal that has been predicted purposefully during the inflation, BICEP was built with the aim of

searching for one (Das, 2013). Predictions can be made based on the fact that inflation produces gravity waves which have the tendency to cause ripples in the universe through fabrics. These gravity waves are believed to have left their mark particularly on the photons of the cosmic microwave background. This led to the imparting of a subtle bias on their polarization. There are other things believed to affect how the cosmic microwave background photons are polarized. It is also thought that the dust present in the Milky Way of the big bang can also emit polarized light. The polarized light could have the curlicue pattern imprinted. Therefore, scientists have not come to a clear conclusion on the issue at hand. Many astronomers are convinced and have made proposals indicating that the Galactic signal fooled the BICEP 2 team.

Expansion of the Universe

The most accurate measurement to have ever been made by NASA was on the speed at which the universe was expanding. This was with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is a doozy. NASA realized that space was pulling itself apart at the seams. The pulling led to an expansion at an estimated rate of 74.4 km per second. Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer, was the first person to discover that the universe was not in a static state in the 1920s.He found that space seemed to expand since when it began with the big bang about 13.7 billion years ago. During the 1990s astronomers gave some shocking news that this expansion was speeding up (Bortz, 2014). Since the discoveries that were made by Hubble, scientists have tried several ways to refine the

measurements they make concerning the rate at which the universe expands. The measurement is called the Hubble Constant which is very hard to make. The new value is mainly used to reduce the uncertainty present in the Hubble Constant to 3 percent only. As a consequence, this helps to improve the precision of the measurement by a factor of 3, in comparison to the preliminary estimate from then Hubble Space Telescope.

A decade ago, it was not possible to use the words cosmology and ‘precision ‘in the same statement. The actual age and size that the universe had were only known to just a factor of two. The new measurements are very beneficial to the scientists. The measurements give a lot concerning the rate at which the universe expands and the reason as to why the expansion seems to accelerate. The scientists have named what is causing the universe to expand as the Dark energy. The scientists have limited the idea of nature and what the Dark energy is. Furthermore, they have combined the new value of the Hubble Constant and the observations recorded concerning the universe by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). These combinations made them make an independent calculation of the power of the dark energy pulling the universe outwards.

The Current and Past Theories of the Universe

Around 14 billion years ago, nothing existed in the planet earth. Due to some random fluctuation in a void that was empty, a universe came into existence. A subatomic particle became inflated to a huge size within a microsecond and this led to the big bang theory of the universe. It has been noted that the universe

is accelerating. As a result of the acceleration, objects are being pulled out of the Hubble Volume of the earth. Therefore, these objects will become undetectable to humans in the coming years. The big bang theory has many assumptions in it. The scientists assumed that the laws of physics are universal and do not change due to time and location in space. The other assumption was that the universe could be homogeneous and similar in all directions. This is not necessarily true at all times. Human beings also do not have the privilege to observe the universe at its very center.

When the above assumptions are put into an application with the Albert Einstein’s equations, they will indicate that universe has the following properties.

• At some finite time, the universe originated from a hot and dense state
• Helium and hydrogen, which were the lightest elements were formed during the first moments
• Cooling led to the formation of atoms

A comparable theory to the big bang is the Steady State Universe. The theory is a rival to the big bang theory. The steady state holds the idea of the continuous creation of matter in the entire universe and thus cause the expansion. In this theory, the universe would have no beginning or the end. The eternal inflation theory suggests that after the big bang theory the universe rapidly expanded within a very short period called the inflation. The theory holds that inflation did not stop, and has been taking place for an infinite period. It is recorded that new universes are still coming into existence in a large complex known as the multiverse. These universes could be having

some different physical laws.

The oscillating model of the universe is involved in an endless series of the big bangs. The oscillations are followed by big crutches that have the ability to restart the cycle again.

Physics cannot explain the questions raised about this multiverse. The number of planets in our solar system is still not known and science has proven to be subjective. This is due to the nullification of Pluto as a planet. As a result, this indicates that the number of planets in our solar system is subject to change at the whim of science. It makes the idea of now the eight planets and a central sun, appear just like a guess for the time being.

The truth is that the vast majority of our system is still unknown to mankind up to date and evidence supporting this idea exist. The area between the sun and Mercury is extremely bright to see. The area beyond Uranus has been found to be too dark to see. Astronomers are trying all ways and means to study our solar system, but the fact is that they still have a lot to do. The major challenge that the scientists face is that not even the very best and sophisticated telescope technology can see objects that are far beyond Pluto. Sunlight does not illuminate objects clearly beyond Pluto, leaving the scientists with a lot of assumptions to make. As a result, scientists have come up with a lot of guesswork and vague clues (Kaku, 1999). Physics does not clearly explain how the gravity works. It explains that gravity from the moon led to the formation of tides but it

does not give a clear understanding of how gravity pulls us to the center of the earth and how the gravity of the sun keeps the planets in the orbits. Scientists do not explain why gravity exists.

Additional Information About the Origin of the Universe

Religious groups such as Christianity, Islam, and others strongly hold that a supernatural being created the universe. The supernatural being has many names which vary from one group to the other. For example, in Christianity the deity is referred as God while in Islam the supernatural is known as Allah. It is believed that God created the universe. He first started by separating things. He divided the light from darkness and land from the water. He called the light day and darkness night. He later created the heavens and the skies and all the creatures both on land and in the sea. When the universe was fully created, God made man and called him Adam. Adam was put in a garden called Eden. God also made a wife for Adam who was called Eve and together they started coming up with generations. The theory is very detailed and systematic. Everything happens in an orderly way that can easily be understood. This theory is believed to be true and has been believed by a large number of people for very many years. Just like the other theories, scientists have also refuted this theory of creation. The reason behind this is that the origin of the supernatural being is not indicated. The theory again does not give the time when all the activities and changes in the universe as per the theory took place.

Conclusion

The

nature of man makes him explore and learn more about his surroundings. To quench his thirst for the knowledge of the universe, man has found himself coming up with an explanation of the universe and his existence. This has resulted to creation of various theories that explain the origin of the earth and the solar system. However, each theory has its own strength and weaknesses too. There is no theory that has provided an evidence that has been taken to be 100 percent true. As a result, man will still try to find out more. We might not know how we came into existence but the fact remains that something happened for us to be existing in the universe. The efforts made by bodies such as NASA towards understanding what is out there are worth. This process might be expensive but could still turn out to be of great benefit if discoveries that make life easier and better are made.

References

1. Bortz, F. (2014). The Big Bang Theory: Edwin Hubble and the Origins of the Universe. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
2. Das, M. (2013). Giant Low Surface Brightness Galaxies: Evolution in Isolation. Journal of Astrophysics & Astronomy, 34(1), 19.
3. Kaku, M., & Thompson, J. T. (1999). Beyond Einstein: The cosmic quest for the theory of the universe. Oxford England: Oxford University Press.
4. Sahijpal, S. (2013). Inhomogeneous Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy in the Solar Neighborhood. Journal of Astrophysics & Astronomy, 34(4), 297-316.
5. Zakharov, A. F. (2015). Possible Alternatives to the Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center. Journal of Astrophysics & Astronomy, 36(4), 539-553.