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The Big Bang Theory
Representation of the universe according to inflationary cosmology.
The Big Bang Theory is the dominant scientific theory about the origin of the
universe. According to the big bang, the universe was created sometime between
10 billion and 20 billion years ago from a cosmic explosion that hurled matter
and in all directions.
In 1927, the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître was the first to propose that the universe began with the explosion of
a primeval atom. His proposal came after observing the red shift in distant
nebulas by astronomers to a model of the universe based on relativity. Years
later, Edwin Hubble found experimental evidence to help justify Lemaître's
theory. He found that distant galaxies in every direction are going
away from us with speeds proportional to their distance.
The big bang was initially suggested because it explains why distant galaxies
are traveling away from us at great speeds. The theory also predicts the
existence of cosmic background radiation (the glow left over from the explosion
itself). The Big Bang Theory received its strongest confirmation when this
radiation was discovered in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who later won the Nobel
Prize for this discovery.
Although the Big Bang Theory is widely accepted, it probably will never be
proved; consequentially, leaving a number of tough, unanswered questions.
Updated December 2, 1997.
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