Formation of the Universe

Formation of the Universe:

1. Explain the Big Bang Theory. Include an image and simulation or video which explains this concept. The Big Bang Theory is the theory on how the universe was created. It is believed to be that 13.7 billion years ago our universe started as a “singularity”. We know that a “singularity” holds all the matter in our universe. Other than that scientists aren’t exactly sure what a “singularity” is but some believe it is the center of black holes. The “singularity” began to inflate, expand, and cool over years and years. This made the universe and all the matter in our universe expand into what the universe is today.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/VOz4PkdY7aA

2. How long has the universe been around? What evidence do we use to support this theory.

The universe has been around for about 13.7 billion years. The cosmic microwave background is evidence that we have of the big bang theory. It is a slight glow that is believed to have existed in the “singularity” that can be seen today using a radio telescope.

3. What is the cosmic microwave background and what does it tell us about the universe? Show an image.

The cosmic microwave background is electromagnetic radiation that fills the space of the universe. Using a radio telescope we can see this radiation that is strongest near the microwave area of the radio spectrum. Before the Big Bang took place the universe was believed to be a compacted and incredibly hot area of hydrogen plasma which is a white fog. When the universe expanded, everything cooled and atoms were able to form, making it harder for them to absorb radiation, therefore the universe became transparent. As the universe grows older, it continues to cool making the electromagnetic radiation harder to see with a radio telescope. This tells us how the universe began and what it could potentially be in the future.

4. Explain the concept of a multiverse include an image

The concept of a multiverse is the belief that are many parallel universes that together is one multiverse. These universes are similar but may differ in physical laws. This theory cannot be verified or falsified and is hard to research of find physical evidence for. We don’t have any evidence that this theory is true and still continues to be researched by scientists today. Like in this image, sometimes the concept of a multiverse is explained in bubbles. We live in our universe which is one bubble and we can’t see outside of our bubble but in reality there are many bubbles around us.

5. Explain the Doppler effect and what it tells us about the expanding universe. Explain red shifts and blue shifts.

The Doppler effect is easiest explained when talking about a police car with sirens. The siren makes two noises, a high pitched one and a lower pitched one that switch back and forth. Have you ever noticed that when the police car is closer to you the notes sound quicker and closer together and they seem slower and farther apart when the car is farther away from you. This is because the sound travels in waves and will reach you at the intervals they are produced. The frequency of the waves get higher as the source approaches, is equal at the exact moment it is right next to you, and lower as the source is moving away. This is known as the doppler effect. The doppler effect and red and blue shifts work in outer space also. For example, a distant star that is coming towards you shifts color the slightest bit as it is coming towards you. This is a blue shift. It shifts a little as it is going away from you. This is a red shift. If a galaxy is red-shifted the distance between us and the galaxy is increasing and the distance is decreasing if the galaxy is blue-shifted. All the galaxies outside our close cluster are red-shifted, the farther away it is, the greater the redshift.The big bang theory says that as the universe began to expand, the matter in the universe expanded also and “came along for the ride”. If the big banf theory is true we would observe redshift in all distant galaxies. Our observations are consistent with the big bang theory.

6. What is dark matter and what evidence do we have that it exists?

It is hard for scientists to know that dark matter exists because it does not emit light which is how we know about most of the things in our universe. Scientists believe that dark matter may have something to do with the unexplained motions of stars in galaxies. We have observed events that lead us to believe that dark matter exists for example, in 1997 a telescope image showed light from a galaxy cluster being bent by another cluster. By the way the light was bent, scientists estimated the amount of mass of the other cluster to be 250 times greater than the visible matter. They believed the invisible mass was dark matter. There has been other instances in the past where dark matter was believed to be present. This topic is still thoroughly researched by scientists today.

7. What is dark energy and what evidence do we have that it exists?

Dark energy is a type of energy that is completely new to science research. Even though we don’t know much about it, we there may be far more of it in the universe than any other type of energy. Dark energy was first suggested in the late 1990’s when two groups of scientists came together to study an exploding star which was supposed to be a pretty straightforward outcome but instead the star came out a lot dimmer from outer space than it was predicted to be. They believed there was a huge unknown energy source, so big it could bend a star’s appearance. Since this first experiment, dark matter has been more researched and even more evidence has surfaced that this energy form exists in outer space.

8. What role do dark matter and dark energy perhaps play in the universe?

Due to dark matter and dark energy, the universe’s expansion has actually not been slowing down like we previously thought but has indeed been quickening. There may have been something wrong with Einstein’s theory of gravity and dark energy could be responsible for the acceleration of the universe’s expansion. Dark matter is believed to make up about 68% of outer space. Scientists are not exactly sure what role dark matter plays in the universe.

9. How has the universe changed over time?

The universe and things in the universe have changed many ways since the big bang theory has occured. For one, the universe is constantly expanding and is now expanding faster than ever. Stars are now constantly being created out of clouds of hydrogen and then dying when they run out of their hydrogen supply. New stars are replacing the dying stars in the milky way, keeping the milky way almost exactly the same as the way it started. More superclusters (large groups of galaxy clusters) are being formed which make up our universe. These are just a few of the examples of the many ways the universe is changing overtime.

10. How do scientists predict the universe will change in the future?

There are many theories on how the universe will change overtime but if the change in our universe stays consistent then we can believe that the universe will keep expanding forever. This expansion of the universe may accelerate faster like it has recently. Truthfully, scientists really have no idea what will happen to the universe in the future because we don’t know everything about the universe and don’t know the events that will take place in the universe. Knowing these things can change our understanding of the universe and maybe help us predict exactly what will happen to the universe in the future.