How the Universe Was Formed

Introduction 

Generally, almost everyone attempts to understand how the universe was formed, what is currently happening, as well as what is likely to happen in the future. Of course, for religious individuals, the common belief is that the universe was formed by a supreme being, who is in control of it, and only him has the plans for the future of the universe. In this latter view, many individuals believe the universe is static, and will probably remain so for many years to come. However, for scientists, especially physicists, and astronomers, there are so many phenomena in space that can help speculate about the origin of the universe, and its future state. The biggest question has always been about the origin of the universe. In that light, the focus has always been about the formation of the earth because presumably, earth is the only planet that supports life. One of the most acceptable theories is known as the Big Bang theory, which suggests that a cloud of dust and gas particles (nebula) exploded or disintegrated, and the resultant particles cooled to form various bodies in the universe, the earth being one of them. Nevertheless, the reason why the earth is perceived to be the only planet that supports life while other bodies cannot is a misery, considering that all resulted from the same nebula. The second misery regards what can be considered to be the center of the universe. For a long time, the earth was considered to be the center of the universe, around which other bodies in the universe revolved. However, it was later argued that the sun formed the center of the universe and planet earth, just like other planets, orbits around it. Currently, more discoveries are even putting into question the proposition that the sun is at the center of the universe. 

The Universe Has No Center 

Discussion stated here 

An astronomer by the name Hipparchus attempted to find the place of the earth in the universe. His proposition was that the earth was at the center of the universe, and was static (did not move). From daily observation, especially at night, most people find other bodies such as stars and the moon moving, but not the earth. It was from such basis that Hipparchus thought the earth was static and other bodies in the universe were moving round it. Therefore, from Hipparchus’ suggestion, everything was orbiting the earth in a circle. Ptolemy embraced Hipparchus’ idea and tried to improve it. He observed that some stars appeared to be very faint while others were brighter. He concluded that the brightest stars were planets. Additionally, he observed at the time that the planets and the sun do not just orbit the earth directly, but they do so in “epicycles”. That is, they also had their own little circular motions, while they orbited the earth. For more than one thousand years, Ptolemy’s proposition reigned; that the earth was at the center of the universe, and the planets and the sun orbited round it directly, and with little circular motions. 

Copernicus would later displace the earth from the center of the universe, and in its place, suggest that the sun formed the actual center of the universe. This proposition came in the sixteenth century. Copernicus died before he would elaborate on his observations and propositions. However, Copernicus’ ideas would have a tremendous effect on how people perceived the universe. Copernicus model would also make predictions that the earth was not as close to the sun as planets such as Mercury and Venus because they had shorter orbits. 

Travelling Between Galaxies 

Discussion stated here 

In the seventeenth and eighteenth century philosophers and astronomers such as Kant and William Herschel made observations that the earth belonged to some form of a disc, surrounded by stars. This disc would later be named Milky Way Galaxy. In this galaxy, some stars were brighter than others, and consequently, Herschel and Kant suggested that the brightest stars were close to the earth while the faintest were very far from the earth. In this argument, the earth seems to be at the center of this galaxy, which is surrounded by stars. If the solar system is to be forgotten for a moment, then the earth again, is placed at some sort of the center of the universe. However, another aspect that arises is whether the Milky Way Galaxy is the only galaxy in the universe. 

In the 20 th century, it was discovered that the Milky Way Galaxy was just one among many galaxies. Therefore, that discovery displaced the earth from being the center of the universe, creating more confusion. It is even estimated that there are tens of billions of galaxies in the universe. Einstein, to a large extent solved many puzzles when he developed the theory of relativity. When mathematicians and physicists tried to solve his equations, they realized that the universe expands. Einstein did not believe his own equations at first because he was influenced by some generations of scientists who believed that the universe is static, and, therefore, cannot expand. Additionally, he believed that the only thing the universe could do was to age and not to expand. He even introduced a cosmological constant in his equation, although he later regretted that he should have believed his equation. A Belgian mathematician would later solve Einstein’s equations and suggest to Einstein that the universe was expanding, and even give prominence to the Big Bang theory. 

Ripples from the Big Bang 

Discussion stated here 

The Big Bang theory proposes that once a static cloud of gases and dust disintegrated to form the various bodies in the universe. From the theory of relativism and in particular, Einstein’s equations, the universe is constantly expanding. Rather than the bodies in the universe being static, they are always moving. From astronomical observations, it has been noted that the ‘stars’ close to the earth appear to move slowly from the earth while those further away tend to move at higher velocities. Ideally, it is suggested that everything in the universe appears to be moving further apart from each other; hence the expansion. It is almost common knowledge that the earth and other planets are held into the universe and towards each other by the force of gravity. In regard to the inflationary (expansion) theory, these bodies in the universe are expanding and moving further apart. Therefore, a question that almost expectedly arose was about the kind of force that makes it possible for these bodies to move. Currently, the suggestion is that the universe is expanding as a consequence of some kind of a ripple effect. The ripple effect means that there is some kind of a center from which the ripples originate. However, neither the earth nor the sun forms that center. 

The center of the ripples can be traced to the Big Bang. After the nebula exploded, the particles were set in motion, and hence all the bodies in the universe are always in motion. It also seems that each body in the universe possesses some form of kinetic energy that induces the motion. Most prominently, it also seems many universes are recreating themselves because astronomers and physicists over long periods of times detect explosions, several light years away from the earth. Perhaps the universe is expanding and recreating multiples of galaxies just like many natural phenomena. For instance, human beings and plants usually reproduce, creating species of their own kinds. Today’s world population cannot be compared to the earth’s population two thousand years ago. In the same manner, the universe could be recreating itself naturally, and the expansion process may never stop. 

Conclusion 

Physics and astronomy are fields that have undergone tremendous changes and transformation. In the past, people only understood the basics about the earth and the universe. Since earth seems to support life, people have always had the perception that the earth seems to form the center of the universe. People have always tried to position themselves in relation to other bodies of the universe. Hipparchus and Ptolemy believed that the earth was at the center and that all the stars and planets orbited around it. However, Copernicus would later argue that the sun formed the center and that the earth and other planets revolved around it. The discovery of the Milky Way Galaxy would also try to position the earth as the center of the universe if it was discovered that no other galaxies existed. However, it emerged that the Milky Way Galaxy was one among tens of billions of galaxies. Such discovery would set debate regarding the center of the universe, the origin, and the future. It is now widely suggested that the universe is always expanding, at least according to Einstein’s equations. Nothing is really at the center of the universe, but that the earth is one among many bodies in the space. Perhaps some questions would arise regarding the seemingly perfect or uniform occurrence of phenomena such as day and night and changes in seasons. Since the universe is always expanding, it should be expected that the earth, moon, stars, and the sun are always moving away from each other. 

References 

Travelling Between Galaxies - National Geographic The Universe | Space Discovery Documentary 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JAfQ4TKwI0 

University of California Television. (2008). The Universe Has No Center... and You're Not There. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kjvXkoDCJ0 

World Science Festival. (2014). Ripples From the Big Bang: Listening to the Beginning of Time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Y1Dri0umI