![]() ![]() A true explanation for the singularity must lie in a theory of quantum gravity, which is a physical theory of strong gravity at extremely tiny scales. However, they do know that the singularity is not real instead, it's an artifact of general relativity that occurs when the equations break down and lose their ability to describe a physical situation. Scientists do not know what came before the Big Bang. ![]() From that singularity, space expanded, giving rise to the universe that we see today, according to NASA (opens in new tab).ĭiagram showing the different steps of the Big Bang. In its earliest moments, the entire universe was compressed into an infinitely tiny point known as the singularity. According to current estimates, based on a wide variety of observations - such as distant supernovas (opens in new tab), the cosmic microwave background (opens in new tab) and the abundance of light elements - the universe is approximately 13.787 billion years old. ![]() This means that in the past, the universe was smaller, hotter and denser than it is today.Įinstein's theory of general relativity allows cosmologists to connect the contents of the universe to its expansion history and, from there, calculate its age. Astronomers interpret this motion to mean that the universe itself is expanding on the very largest scales, the distances between galaxies grow with time. Observations of distant galaxies reveal that all galaxies are, on average, moving away from every other galaxy. Our best understanding of the history of the universe comes from the Big Bang theory. How old is the universe, and is it expanding?
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