SIO 35 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sulfur, Connemara, Redshift
1 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
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 lema tre 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 lema tre"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).
