1/22/2019 Big Bang - Wikipedia

Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological
model for the observable universe[1][2][3] from the
earliest known periods through its subsequent large-
scale evolution.[4][5][6] The model describes how the
universe expanded from a very high-density and high-
temperature state,[7][8] and offers a comprehensive
explanation for a broad range of phenomena, including
the abundance of light elements, the cosmic microwave
background (CMB), large scale structure and Hubble's
law (the farther away galaxies are, the faster they are
moving away from Earth).[9] If the observed conditions
are extrapolated backwards in time using the known Timeline of the metric expansion of space, where
laws of physics, the prediction is that just before a space (including hypothetical non-observable portions
period of very high density there was a singularity which of the universe) is represented at each time by the
circular sections. On the left, the dramatic expansion
is typically associated with the Big Bang. Physicists are
occurs in the inflationary epoch; and at the center, the
undecided whether this means the universe began from
expansion accelerates (artist's concept; not to scale).
a singularity, or that current knowledge is insufficient to
describe the universe at that time. Detailed
measurements of the expansion rate of the universe place the Big Bang at around 13.8 billion years ago, which is thus
considered the age of the universe.[10] After its initial expansion, the universe cooled sufficiently to allow the formation
of subatomic particles, and later simple atoms. Giant clouds of these primordial elements (mostly hydrogen, with
some helium and lithium) later coalesced through gravity, eventually forming early stars and galaxies, the descendants
of which are visible today. Astronomers also observe the gravitational effects of dark matter surrounding galaxies.
Though most of the mass in the universe seems to be in the form of dark matter, Big Bang theory and various
observations seem to indicate that it is not made out of conventional baryonic matter (protons, neutrons, and
electrons) but it is unclear exactly what it is made out of.

Since Georges Lemaître first noted in 1927 that an expanding universe could be traced back in time to an originating
single point, scientists have built on his idea of cosmic expansion. The scientific community was once divided between
supporters of two different theories, the Big Bang and the Steady State theory, but a wide range of empirical evidence
has strongly favored the Big Bang which is now universally accepted.[11] In 1929, from analysis of galactic redshifts,
Edwin Hubble concluded that galaxies are drifting apart; this is important observational evidence consistent with the
hypothesis of an expanding universe. In 1964, the cosmic microwave background radiation was discovered, which was
crucial evidence in favor of the Big Bang model,[12] since that theory predicted the existence of background radiation
throughout the universe before it was discovered. More recently, measurements of the redshifts of supernovae indicate
that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, an observation attributed to dark energy's existence.[13] The known
physical laws of nature can be used to calculate the characteristics of the universe in detail back in time to an initial
state of extreme density and temperature.[14]

Contents
Overview
Timeline
Singularity
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Inflation and baryogenesis

Cooling
Structure formation
Cosmic acceleration
Features of the model
Expansion of space
Horizons
History
Etymology
Development
Observational evidence
Hubble's law and the expansion of space
Cosmic microwave background radiation
Abundance of primordial elements
Galactic evolution and distribution
Primordial gas clouds
Other lines of evidence
Future observations
Problems and related issues in physics
Baryon asymmetry
Dark energy
Dark matter
Horizon problem
Magnetic monopoles
Flatness problem
Cause
Ultimate fate of the universe
Misconceptions
Speculations
Religious and philosophical interpretations
See also
Notes
References
Books
Further reading
External links

Overview
The Belgian astronomer and Catholic priest Georges Lemaître
proposed on theoretical grounds that the universe is expanding, A graphical timeline is available at
Graphical timeline of the Big Bang
which was observationally confirmed soon afterwards by Edwin
Hubble.[15][16] In 1927 in the Annales de la Société Scientifique de
Bruxelles (Annals of the Scientific Society of Brussels) under the title "Un Univers homogène de masse constante et de
rayon croissant rendant compte de la vitesse radiale des nébuleuses extragalactiques" ("A homogeneous Universe of
constant mass and growing radius accounting for the radial velocity of extragalactic nebulae"),[17] he presented his
new idea that the universe is expanding and provided the first observational estimation of what is known as the
Hubble constant.[18] What later will be known as the "Big Bang theory" of the origin of the universe, he called his
"hypothesis of the primeval atom" or the "Cosmic Egg".[19]

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