We know that the universe was formed by the Big Bang. As the name suggests, the Big Bang was “a big bang”; it should not be considered an “explosion”. It gets complicated if you think of the Big Bang as a bomb exploding in space and clearing up. Because the universe itself was created by the Big Bang. During this time, space, time, matter, and energy were formed. Perhaps the big bang theory, which explains the origin and expansion of the universe, needs a different name because it actually doesn’t explain the moment of the big bang, but what happened after. In fact, we don’t know exactly what happened at the time of the Big Bang.
The universe is an extraordinary formation beyond human dreams with dust and gases, stars, planets, galaxies, black holes, and a near-infinite void. However, what is at least as impressive as the universe itself is the human effort to understand this extraordinary system without being crushed. Accessing information about distances and times that humans cannot physically reach using scientific methods is one of the most amazing developments in space exploration. Technological advances have brought us to a point where we can make inferences about the universe’s past and think about the future using calculations, simulations, and models based on observations made in space.
How old is the universe?
It is estimated at 13.8 to 14 billion years. The entire universe, everything we see and cannot see, came into being in a sudden expansion billion years ago. The expansion continues today. Although we don’t know exactly what happened before the Big Bang, we have many ideas about the aftermath.
Three minutes after the Big Bang, protons and neutrons together formed the first atomic nuclei. However, it took another 380,000 years for these nuclei to capture electrons and form the first atoms, and then the universe began to emit light for the first time. We call this radiation the cosmic microwave background radiation. No matter which direction you look, it is radiation that is almost evenly distributed in space. The temperature is -270 degrees Celsius.
The common view of many scientists regarding the formation of the universe is the so-called big bang theory. According to this theory, the universe has zero volume and very high energy potential and was formed by the explosion of a pinched point. The question of how the first explosion took place, what was in that void before the universe was formed, or whether the universe is expanding in that void has not been satisfactorily answered even to this day.
As a result of the Big Bang, independent gases formed various galaxies using the gravitational laws that apply throughout the universe and are constantly expanding. The stars in the galaxies and the systems that have formed around some stars have subsequently formed gradually. The solar system in which our earth is located is one of them. As far as we can determine, there are estimated to be more than 400 billion galaxies and 300 sextillion stars in the universe.
What is the universe made of?
The universe is believed to be made up mostly of “dark matter” and “dark energy.”
The universe is actually like an oil painting. When you look at an oil painting from a distance, you can easily see the harmony in the painting. However, if you look very closely at the painting, you will see the small hills, valleys, and plains created by the artist’s brushstrokes. In principle, the universe is to be understood in the same way. While you see galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the empty space between them that bends spacetime at small scales, if you scaled up very, very much and looked at the universe from afar, you would see much more homogeneous scattering clusters.
Is it possible to travel to the edge of the universe?
Although the universe has a finite or infinite form, it need not have a limit. So, after a while, do you find yourself back at the starting point if you start the journey? Don’t be surprised. There is indeed a limit to the distance we can see in the universe. It is about 46 billion light-years from us in all directions.
If you know that the universe is expanding and all space beyond a certain distance is moving faster than the speed of light from us, you know that you can never reach it; even if the universe has a theoretically achievable end.
Suppose you built a spaceship that moves at the speed of light. In fact, you can’t build a spaceship that travels at the speed of light. This is just an assumption that we make in theory to give an example. Unless you travel at the speed of light in your spaceship and cover a certain distance, you will never reach the end of the universe, because anything further than a certain distance is also faster than the speed of light. This is a result of the expansion of the universe. However, if the universe isn’t expanding, meaning if it doesn’t change size no matter how much time has passed, you could end up 46 billion light-years across.
It is believed that the universe itself, like everything else in the universe, will one day give up its form as we know it and turn into a pitch-black and silent place where not a single star shines. It’s like a balloon inflating and gradually deflating.
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