How our Universe Was Formed
FACTS
Definition: Our universe contains our sun,
planets, moons, stars, galaxies, and other space debris.
Big Bang Theory:
 Scientists believe our universe formed about 13.75 billion years ago.
 At that time, everything in the universe was gathered together
under extreme pressure and temperature and densely packed into
one very tiny spot.
 Due to some unknown disturbance, a tremendous “explosion” caused
all matter began to rapidly expand outward in all directions.
The Universe is Expanding:
 Scientists continue to monitor outer space with technology such as
telescopes and other satellites.
 They can see galaxies moving away from us and from each other. This
provides evidence that the universe continues to expand.
Fun Fact:
 Did you know that nothing travels faster in the universe than the
speed of light! Imagine traveling 186,000 miles per second!
That’s about 670,000 million mph! Crazy!!!
 Light year = ~5.7 trillion miles
 Universe is about 14 billion years old (13.7 billion years)
SPACE NEWS The CLASS space probe will scan radiation waves
generated just after the Big Bang happened. Scientists hope to
explain what occurred in the first trillionth of a second after of the birth of
the universe.
CITATIONS
1. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/index.html (picture)
2. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 2001. Earth Science.
3. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/known-universe/all/Overview#tabthe-fastest-facts
4. http://news.discovery.com/space/big-bang-probe.html