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

Quantum physicists realized that if the entire universe expanded from a single point, it would have initially been opaque - photons would not have been able to travel far without interacting with other photons. Only when the universe grew large enough for photons to travel unimpeded, would light have burst onto the scene. They predicted, that we would still be able to see that first light.

Astronomers have detected the cosmic microwave background radiation and mapped fluctuations in its intensity. The cosmic microwave background radiation supports the theory that the universe expanded from a point to produce the matter and galaxies we observe today.