The Origin of the Universe

A survey of the evidence

Introduction
Measurement Overview
    Parallax Distances
    Star Sizes and Absolute Magnitudes
    Cepheid Distances
    Type 1a Supernovae Distances
    Redshift Velocities and Distances
    Age of the Stars in Globular Clusters
    The Oldest White Dwarfs
    The Cosmic Microwave Background
Conclusion

When sun-sized stars exhaust all their nuclear fuel, they become white dwarfs. With nothing else to burn, they simply loose heat by radiation and cool for the rest of time. We know the temperature at which white dwarfs form and the rate at which they cool. We have measured the temperatures and ages of hundreds of white dwarfs. The age of the oldest white dwarfs is consistent with the theory that the universe began 13.7 billion years ago.