Christmas Day Storms Blamed for 3 Deaths - NYTimes.com

Christmas Day Storms Blamed for 3 Deaths - NYTimes.com:

 "MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Twisters hopscotched across the Deep South, and, along with brutal, straight-line winds, knocked down countless trees, blew the roofs off homes and left many Christmas celebrations in the dark. Holiday travelers in the nation's much colder midsection battled treacherous driving conditions from freezing rain and blizzard conditions from the same fast-moving storms."

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Storm Brings White Christmas, Tornado Threat to Central U.S: Scientific American

Storm Brings White Christmas, Tornado Threat to Central U.S: Scientific American:

 "A major winter storm brought a rare white Christmas to the southern U.S. plains on Tuesday, contributing to a 21-vehicle pile-up that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma."

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When Prophecy Fails - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When Prophecy Fails - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

 "When Prophecy Fails is a classic work of social psychology by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter which studied a small UFO cult that believed in an imminent Apocalypse and its coping mechanisms after the event did not occur. Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance can account for the psychological consequences of disconfirmed expectations. One of the first published cases of dissonance was reported in this book."

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Herschel finds first evidence of Earth-like water in a comet

05 Oct 2011 A team of astronomers using ESA's Herschel Space Observatory have discovered the first comet containing water that is similar in isotopic composition to that in Earth's oceans. This detection, in the comet 103P/Hartley 2, shows that contrary to earlier belief, comets may well have played an important role in bringing water to our planet, and that the reservoir of Earth-like water in the Solar System is far larger than suspected. Herschel image and spectrum of comet 103P/Hartley 2 and its orbit. Credit: ESA/AOES Medialab; Herschel/HssO Consortium Today, over 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered in water. In our planet's early days, however, its surface was so hot that it caused water and other volatiles to evaporate. Researchers agree that the water currently present on Earth has been delivered at a later stage during the planet's evolution, most likely by comets and asteroids. The relative contribution of each class of object to our planet's water supply is, however, still debated. Shedding light on the nature of the main water carriers to Earth would improve our current understanding of the Solar System's formation and dynamical evolution. The role of comets in this context is particularly intriguing, since these bodies may have contributed to enriching our planet not only with water, but also with the carbon- and nitrogen-based compounds that are of great importance to the emergence of life. To investigate further, astronomers seek the signature of water in the spectra of comets and asteroids. But how can they link it to the origin of this fundamental molecule on Earth? A good diagnostic to compare water found in different celestial bodies is to analyse the relative abundance of molecules made up of different isotopes. Depending on its isotopic composition, water appears in various 'flavours', technically known as isotopologues; among these are 'ordinary' water (H216O), composed of two hydrogen (H) and one oxygen (16O) atoms, and semi-heavy water (HDO), where one of the hydrogen atoms appears in its isotopical form of deuterium (D, or 2H). Close-up of comet 103P/Hartley 2 taken by NASA's EPOXI mission. Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, UMD, EPOXI Mission In the Earth's oceans, the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio (D/H) has been determined to be 1.56×10-4. This value is similar to that measured in some meteorites found on Earth, which are believed to originate from the outer asteroid belt. In contrast, all of the six comets for which this ratio had been measured so far, including the well-known Halley and Hale-Bopp comets, show a value about twice as high as that of Earth-like water. These data seemed to suggest that asteroids, rather than comets, are the primary agents that delivered water to our planet. A new study, based on Herschel observations using the HIFI instrument, has brought comets back on the scene, thus reopening the debate about the origin of water on Earth. The data demonstrate that comet 103P/Hartley 2, which was discovered in 1986, harbours water that has a D/H ratio similar to that of Earth's oceans. This comet has appeared in our skies on four more occasions since; the last time in late 2010, during which it was observed with Herschel. "This is the first measurement of the D/H ratio of a Jupiter-Family comet," notes Paul Hartogh from the Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS) in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany. Hartogh is the first author of a paper to appear in the journal Nature and published online on 5 October 2011. "The previous six determinations of this ratio focussed exclusively on Oort-Cloud comets," he adds. The location of Jupiter-Family comet 103P/Hartley 2, the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud in the Solar System. Credit: ESA/AOES Medialab Jupiter-Family (JF) and Oort-Cloud (OC) comets differ in their orbits as well as orbital periods, and have very distinct birthplaces. JF comets, with periods of a few years and aphelia close to the orbits of Jupiter and the other giant planets, are thought to have formed in the Kuiper Belt, at the outskirts of the Solar System, and to have migrated inwards only later. OC comets have most likely undergone the opposite process. With periods of 200 years or more, these comets are believed to have originated in the vicinity of the giant planets and to have been ejected later, via gravitational interactions, to the Oort Cloud, well beyond the outer Solar System. Comets harbour material from the pristine cloud from which the planets formed about 4500 million years ago, making them unique tools with which to probe the early Solar System. In fact, these wandering fossils reflect the primordial composition of their respective places of origin: the Kuiper Belt in the case of JF comets, and the region where the giant planets formed, in the case of OC comets. Water signatures in Herschel/HIFI spectrum of comet 103P/Hartley 2. Image courtesy of Paul Hartogh The recent approach of comet 103P/Hartley 2 to Earth was the closest since its discovery, offering an extraordinary opportunity to measure chemical abundances in a JF comet. "We took advantage of such a rare chance and used Herschel to obtain exquisite spectra of this comet," says Hartogh. The astronomers were able to detect the spectral signature of two different isotopologues of water: HDO and H218O, the latter being a proxy for 'ordinary' water (H216O). "The HDO feature is about 10 times weaker than the other one and it would have been very hard to single out had the comet not been so close to the observatory," explains Hartogh. These observations led to the first estimate of the D/H ratio in a JF comet. "The D/H ratio of water in comets is a cosmic equivalent of forensic 'chemical fingerprinting': by measuring it and comparing it to the theoretical values we can, in principle, nail down the comet's birthplace," comments co-author Dariusz Lis from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. The classical theoretical picture suggests that, in the early Solar System, the D/H ratio in water was rather low in the vicinity of the Sun and increasingly larger with increasing heliocentric distance. Given that JF comets supposedly formed farther away from the Sun than their OC counterparts, astronomers expected that they would be characterised by a higher value of this ratio. "Instead, 103P/Hartley 2 clearly exhibits a lower D/H ratio, which happens to be very similar to that of the water in Earth's oceans," explains co-author Dominique Bockelée-Morvan from the Laboratoire d'Études Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA) of the Observatoire de Paris at Meudon, France. The deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio for various bodies in the Solar System. Image courtesy of Paul Hartogh The result indicates that something in the underlying models is not correct. It is possible that JF comets did not originate in the Kuiper Belt. Alternatively, the theoretical framework describing the distribution of deuterium and hydrogen in the early Solar System may be incomplete. Theoretical implications aside, the study's foremost merit is that it legitimises afresh the role of comets as the carriers of water to our planet. In the light of the new data, the reservoir of Earth-like water in the Solar System appears to be significantly larger than previously thought. "The unique sensitivity and spectral resolution of the HIFI instrument flown on board Herschel enables us to observe different isotopologues of water in comets," comments Göran Pilbratt, ESA's Herschel Project Scientist. "As this result clearly demonstrates, HIFI observations are shedding new light on the possible origins of water on Earth." Notes for editors The study presented here is based on observations performed with Herschel's Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared, HIFI. The observations were carried out as part of the ‘Water and related chemistry in the Solar System' Key Programme. In October and November 2010, Herschel joined in a global campaign to observe comet 103P/Hartley 2 at several wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum, taking advantage of the comet's closest approach to Earth since its discovery. These observations also provided support to NASA's EPOXI mission, which flew past the comet on 4 November 2011. The D/H ratio of water in comet 103P/Hartley 2 was estimated by comparing the spectral lines of HDO at 509 GHz and H218O at 548 GHz. 'Ordinary' water (H216O) was not probed in the study because, due to its large abundance in the cometary ejecta, its spectral lines are optically thick and only account for a fraction of the total water volume. As a proxy for H216O, astronomers used H218O, which is characterised by optically thin lines just like HDO, and employed the ratio of H218O to H216O, which is well known, to calibrate the results. According to the Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW), a standard defining the isotopic composition of water, the value of the D/H ratio in Earth-like water is 1.558 ± 0.001 ×10-4. Herschel is ESA's infrared space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and important participation from NASA. HIFI, or the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared, has been designed and built by a consortium of institutes and university departments across Europe, Canada, and the United States under the leadership of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Groningen, the Netherlands, with major contributions from Germany, France, and the US. HIFI Consortium members are: Canada: CSA, U. Waterloo; France: CESR, LAB, LERMA, IRAM; Germany: KOSMA, MPIfR, MPS; Ireland: NUI Maynooth; Italy: ASI, IFSI-INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri-INAF; Netherlands: SRON, TUD; Poland: CAMK, CBK; Spain: Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN), Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA); Sweden: Chalmers University of Technology - MC2, RSS & GARD, Onsala Space Observatory, Swedish National Space Board, Stockholm University – Stockholm Observatory; Switzerland: ETH Zurich, FHNW; USA: Caltech, JPL, NHSC. Related publications P. Hartogh, et al., "Ocean-like water in the Jupiter-family comet 103P/Hartley 2", 2011, Nature, 478, 7368 Contacts Paul Hartogh Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany Email: hartoghmps.mpg.de Phone: +49 5556 979342 Dariusz C. Lis California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California, USA E-mail: dclcaltech.edu Phone: +1 626 395 6617 Dominique Bockelée-Morvan LESIA-Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, UPMC, Université Paris-Diderot Meudon, France E-mail: Dominique.Bockeleeobspm.fr Phone: +33 1 45077605 Göran Pilbratt Herschel Project Scientist Research and Scientific Support Department Science and Robotic Exploration Directorate ESA, The Netherlands Email: gpilbrattrssd.esa.int Phone: +31 71 565 3621 ESA

Asymptotic Giant Branch Star

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Doomsday Fizzles, but Many in Old Mayan Empire Hail New Era - NYTimes.com

Doomsday Fizzles, but Many in Old Mayan Empire Hail New Era - NYTimes.com:

 "The date, aside from the winter solstice, merely marked the end of a 5,125-year cycle — the 13th baktun — and the beginning of a new one, according to interpretations of the Mayans’ long-count calendar. Mexico’s government archaeologists actually are not sure if the cycle ended Friday or in a few days."

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[1212.4870] The enigmatic nature of the circumstellar envelope and bow shock surrounding Betelgeuse as revealed by Herschel. I. Evidence of clumps, multiple arcs, and a linear bar-like structure

[1212.4870] The enigmatic nature of the circumstellar envelope and bow shock surrounding Betelgeuse as revealed by Herschel. I. Evidence of clumps, multiple arcs, and a linear bar-like structure:


Context. The interaction between stellar winds and the interstellar medium (ISM) can create complex bow shocks. The photometers on board the Herschel Space Observatory are ideally suited to studying the morphologies of these bow shocks. Aims. We aim to study the circumstellar environment and wind-ISM interaction of the nearest red supergiant, Betelgeuse. Methods. Herschel PACS images at 70, 100, and 160 micron and SPIRE images at 250, 350, and 500 micron were obtained by scanning the region around Betelgeuse. These data were complemented with ultraviolet GALEX data, near-infrared WISE data, and radio 21 cm GALFA-HI data. The observational properties of the bow shock structure were deduced from the data and compared with hydrodynamical simulations. Results. The infrared Herschel images of the environment around Betelgeuse are spectacular, showing the occurrence of multiple arcs at 6-7 arcmin from the central target and the presence of a linear bar at 9 arcmin. Remarkably, no large-scale instabilities are seen in the outer arcs and linear bar. The dust temperature in the outer arcs varies between 40 and 140 K, with the linear bar having the same colour temperature as the arcs. The inner envelope shows clear evidence of a non-homogeneous clumpy structure (beyond 15 arcsec), probably related to the giant convection cells of the outer atmosphere. The non-homogeneous distribution of the material even persists until the collision with the ISM. A strong variation in brightness of the inner clumps at a radius of 2 arcmin suggests a drastic change in mean gas and dust density some 32 000 yr ago. Using hydrodynamical simulations, we try to explain the observed morphology of the bow shock around Betelgeuse. Conclusions: [abbreviated]
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[1212.4861] Late Stages of Stellar Evolution - Herschel's contributions

[1212.4861] Late Stages of Stellar Evolution - Herschel's contributions:

Cool objects glow in the infrared. The gas and solid-state species that escape the stellar gravitational attraction of evolved late-type stars in the form of a stellar wind are cool, with temperatures typically $\la$1500\,K, and can be ideally studied in the infrared. These stellar winds create huge extended circumstellar envelopes with extents approaching $10^{19}$\,cm. In these envelopes, a complex kinematical, thermodynamical and chemical interplay determines the global and local structural parameters. Unraveling the wind acceleration mechanisms and deriving the complicated structure of the envelopes is important to understand the late stages of evolution of ~97% of stars in galaxies as our own Milky Way. That way, we can also assess the significant chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium by the mass loss of these evolved stars. The Herschel Space Observatory is uniquely placed to study evolved stars thanks to the excellent capabilities of the three infrared and sub-millimeter instruments on board: PACS, SPIRE and HIFI. In this review, I give an overview of a few important results obtained during the first two years of Herschel observations in the field of evolved low and intermediate mass stars, and I will show how the Herschel observations can solve some historical questions on these late stages of stellar evolution, but also add some new ones.

"I am convinced that these Herschel images are opening a new era of detailed studies of this intriguing interaction zone between ISM and CSM. Highly sophisticated model simulations and dedicated observations (with, e.g., ALMA) will elucidate the key astrophysical quantities triggering the appearance of this whole zoo of interaction phases."
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Dec. 21: The Winter Solstice Explained | Beginning of Winter | Space.com

Dec. 21: The Winter Solstice Explained | Beginning of Winter | Space.com:

"At 6:12 a.m. EST on Friday (Dec. 21), the sun will reach a point where it will appear to shine farthest to the south of the equator, over the Tropic of Capricorn, thus marking the moment of the winter solstice — the beginning of winter."

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California Meteor Broke Speed Record for Atmospheric Entry | Observations, Scientific American Blog Network

California Meteor Broke Speed Record for Atmospheric Entry | Observations, Scientific American Blog Network:

"The rapid alteration of meteorites by terrestrial water, the researchers conclude, “probably erases many vestiges of the internal and external process on the asteroid” and may mean that carbonaceous asteroids are more complex in composition than had been thought."

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Winter Storm Bears Down on Midwest After Dumping Snow on Rockies: Scientific American

Winter Storm Bears Down on Midwest After Dumping Snow on Rockies: Scientific American:

"The first major winter storm of the season, which started Tuesday in the Rocky mountains, could dump more than a foot of snow in some areas of the central Plains late Wednesday, the National Weather Service said."

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Pinpoint Climate Studies Flag Trouble for Mexico, Central American Farmers: Scientific American

Pinpoint Climate Studies Flag Trouble for Mexico, Central American Farmers: Scientific American:

 "A growing body of scientific evidence ranks Mexico and its southern neighbors near the top of the list of countries most vulnerable to global warming, and advances in micro-forecasting foresee a grim future in alarming detail."

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A Helium Shortage Leads to Fewer Balloons in the Sky - NYTimes.com

A Helium Shortage Leads to Fewer Balloons in the Sky - NYTimes.com:

"AMARILLO, Tex. — One chain of party supply stores in Texas and Oklahoma was forced to make a cut worthy of Scrooge: no more balloons donated to charity events. A gated community on Lake Erie in Ohio that had handed out balloons to children at a Fourth of July parade for decades did not give out a single balloon this year. And a longtime tradition at University of Nebraska home football games — releasing up to 5,000 red balloons after the Huskers score their first touchdown — was downsized this season to a modest 2,000."

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[1212.3101] Study of the chemical evolution and spectral signatures of some interstellar precursor molecules of adenine, glycine alanine

[1212.3101] Study of the chemical evolution and spectral signatures of some interstellar precursor molecules of adenine, glycine alanine:


We carry out a quantum chemical calculation to obtain the infrared and electronic absorption spectra of several complex molecules of the interstellar medium (ISM). These molecules are the precursors of adenine, glycine & alanine. They could be produced in the gas phase as well as in the ice phase. We carried out a hydro-chemical simulation to predict the abundances of these species in the gas as well as in the ice phase. Gas and grains are assumed to be interacting through the accretion of various species from the gas phase on to the grain surface and desorption (thermal evaporation and photo-evaporation) from the grain surface to the gas phase. Depending on the physical properties of the cloud, the calculated abundances varies. The influence of ice on vibrational frequencies of different pre-biotic molecules was obtained using Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM) model with the integral equation formalism variant (IEFPCM) as default SCRF method with a dielectric constant of 78.5. Time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is used to study the electronic absorption spectrum of complex molecules which are biologically important such as, formamide and precursors of adenine, alanine and glycine. We notice a significant difference between the spectra of the gas and ice phase (water ice). The ice could be mixed instead of simple water ice. We have varied the ice composition to find out the effects of solvent on the spectrum. We expect that our study could set the guidelines for observing the precursor of some bio-molecules in the interstellar space.
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When You Fall Into a Black Hole, How Long Have You Got? | Critical Opalescence, Scientific American Blog Network

When You Fall Into a Black Hole, How Long Have You Got? | Critical Opalescence, Scientific American Blog Network:

"In chatting with colleagues after a talk this week, Joe Polchinski said he’d love to fall into a black hole. Most theoretical physicists would. It’s not because they have some peculiar death wish or because science funding prospects are so dark these days. They are just insanely curious about what would happen. Black holes are where the known laws of physics come into their most direct conflict. The worst trouble is the black hole information paradox that Stephen Hawking loosed upon the world in 1976. Polchinski and his colleagues have shown that the predicament is even worse than physicists used to think."

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Newfound Asteroid Buzzes Earth inside Moon's Orbit: Scientific American

Newfound Asteroid Buzzes Earth inside Moon's Orbit: Scientific American:

 "Researchers discovered the asteroid shortly before it came within 225,000 kilometers of the planet"

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Controversial claim puts life on land 65 million years early : Nature News & Comment

Controversial claim puts life on land 65 million years early : Nature News & Comment:

"Some enigmatic fossils regarded as ancient sea creatures were land-dwelling lichen, argues a paper published today in Nature1. But other palaeontologists flatly reject the hypothesis, by Gregory Retallack, a geologist at the University of Oregon in Eugene. His paper not only marks a dramatic reinterpretation of the fossils but suggests life on land began 65 million years earlier than researchers now estimate."

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Hawking and CERN Scientists Win $3-Million Physics Prizes: Scientific American

Hawking and CERN Scientists Win $3-Million Physics Prizes: Scientific American:

 "A Russian foundation has honored eight scientists with the world's richest science award—nearly three times as lucrative as the Nobel Prize"

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The Best'a Vesta: Orbital Imagery Captures Asteroid's Towering Peak: Scientific American Gallery

The Best'a Vesta: Orbital Imagery Captures Asteroid's Towering Peak: Scientific American Gallery:

"The asteroid Vesta does not qualify as a planet, not even a dwarf planet. But the giant asteroid has plenty to offer planetary scientists nonetheless.

Vesta appears to be a differentiated body, like Earth, with distinct layers of core, mantle and crust. It also features some pretty dramatic topography. This photomosaic of Vesta's south pole, from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, centers on one of the tallest mountains in the solar system. The central peak within the crater Rheasilvia rises 22 kilometers, comparable with Mars's Olympus Mons and much higher than any mountain on Earth."

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Colleen Purcell

Colleen Purcell

Big Bang term paper

December 1, 2012

How Our Universe Began

            Even now most of us still wonder where and how did our universe start.  Most of everyone have their own beliefs and may also have their doubts.  Everyday science has proved how certain animals or plants have become or are now living.  Science has a theory called the Big Bang Theory that is an explanation to how our universe started and the beginning of the world.  With science there is always evidence to prove why and how certain things are happening or happened.  In the Big Bang theory they have evidence to prove to us why and how the world has started to make us believe them.  But with that evidence that also means that there are some doubts that can’t be totally proven.  Most people don’t fully believe anything until they see it happen with their own eyes.  So with all the doubts we have theories of the history of our earth with pieces of evidence to try and make us all believe this is the way it has all began.

            While searching science Hubble’s law proved that the Earth is expanding all the time.  Which this law led science to show and prove the Big Bang Theory to explain our universe.  Science these days have such high technology that enables us to do so much.  We are able to prove and see that our earth started between 13.75 to 14 years ago.  Many objects and living things that are important to us occurred and were beginning within seconds to minutes after the Big Bang occurred.  Our universe at one point was just a hot dense state which was a rapid expansion that cooled.  When this cooling occurring energies were turned into protons, neutrons, electrons, and particles.  As most have learned hydrogen was the first element to be produced.  All these particles being created eventually made the stars and galaxies.  There were different era’s that led up to what our galaxies and universe is now made of.  These eras were Planck, GUT, electroweak, particle, nuclei, nucleosynthesis, atoms, and galaxies.  This all started in the Planck era that to this day we cannot describe because we do not understand the physics of it.  That was followed by the GUT era that caused inflation by the release of enormous about of energy.  But still to this day they are not 100 percent that this is correct but have tests to back it up.  In the electroweak era three forces which are gravity, a strong force, and electroweak force produced matter and antimatter particles.  “In the particle era photons continued to turn into all sorts of exotic particles that were no longer find freely existing in the universe today, including quarks-the building blocks of photons and neutrons.  By the end of the particle era, all quarks had combined into protons and neutrons, which shared the universe with other particles such as electrons, neutrinos, and perhaps WIMPS.”(Bennett, 2012)  Next in the nucleosynthesis era that was over in five minutes after the universe began helium was made.  In this era the heat still was so high that most nuclei broke as they formed.  As that held for about 380,00 years the nuclei era started where if the nuclei captured an electron it would ionize it to make it an atom.  Making those atoms then formed the era of atoms that assembled together with plasma to create protogalactic clouds.  So by the time the universe was one billion years old in the era of galaxies the clouds had created stars and galaxies that still continue to create to this day. “Since the Big Bang, the universe has been continuously expanding and, thus, there has been more and more distance between clusters of galaxies. This phenomenon of galaxies moving farther away from each other is known as the red shift. As light from distant galaxies approach earth there is an increase of space between earth and the galaxy, which leads to wavelengths being stretched.”(Lacrocco, Big Bang)  All of these eras were created with the start of the Big Bang theory.  The origin of this theory came from Hubble because of his discovery of the universe continuously expanding.  But this theory was studied by many scientists and was proven to work from many different people.

            To prove every theory and make people believe them we have to have evidence to back it all up.  The first piece of evidence was discovered in 1965 by two men named Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson.  Their antenna showed a noise that was coming from all different parts instead of one certain area.  This moving that radiation was still all over with finding that “noise” which is cosmic microwave background.  Finding this they were able to look back when the Earth was 380,000 years old showing that the radiation came from a red star that had a few hundred nanometers.  Which this was also retested in the 1990’s by COBE and still proved that it was all correct.  With the discovery of cosmic microwave background they were also able to explain how the galaxies were formed from the helium because of how hot the universe was.  They found that the variations in temperatures did vary from place to place.  Because of how fast the universe was expanding it wasn’t able to produce too much of heavier elements but these heavier elements then were eventually made in stars.  But a big part of our understanding of the Big Bang theory comes from particle physics.  But also we have Olbers’ paradox that is “we can see only a finite number of stars because the universe began at a particular moment.  While the universe may contain an infinite number of stars, we can only see those that lie within the observable universe.”(Bennett, 2012) So all in all to back up the theory we have both the cosmic microwave background and the composition of the universe.  This theory is respected by many scientists and is still what many to believe how our earth has started.  This theory is not accepted by all people where others have their beliefs on how it started but not all they have facts or evidence to back it up.  Some people just rely on faith and belief.  Sometimes growing up in a religious background or family I can see many people have a hard time to believe in this theory and it to be true.  They believe that God has created the Earth and everything or anyone that is on it.  I grew up in a religious home and I do believe in God but I still have my doubts on how our earth and universe was created.  I believe in part of this Big Bang but I like other people have a hard time believing things without seeing and fully understanding.  I have enough knowledge that I can comprehend but I do think I will always be stuck in that stage of wonder.

            One key explanation that has been found to explain our universe is inflation.  Inflation is considered to be a dramatic burst of expansion.  Inflations answers dome of the questions that some people still ask that the Big Bang theory doesn’t explain to them.  In 1981, a physicist Alan Guth came up with explanations to all those open questions on the Big Bang theory.  He said that the energy through space is irregular and tiny quantum make up those irregulars.  These quantum’s’ could have been seeds that eventually created galaxies with their enhancements.  The inflation would have stretched the enhancements to the size of our solar system.  Next he said that inflation causes two regions to never be able to come into contact more than once with each other.  Inflation causes these regions to be equalized and separated from each other.  With that, this means that these regions were moving faster than the speed of light, which according to Einstein nothing moves faster than the speed of light.  Inflation says between these regions thought they move so quickly nothing can move between them faster than the speed of light.  Alan believed that the universe was flat which saying that critical matter and density of matter are equal.  Each of these explanations of inflation was tested by WAMP.  To test these predictions of inflation that had to correspond the records to what will be happening now or later times.  They said for these to be correct the density matter and critical matter had to match with the deuterium of the universe.  The age of our earth would need to be about 13.7 billion years which did match with Hubble’s law.  But with every theory of explanation people are going to search and find reasons to why it doesn’t work or why it needs to be changed.

            We all want to know for sure how our universe came about.  Some, I believe even question why were we all formed and why was everything formed in that way?  But science can only take us so far to answer some of all the questions and having evidence to prove it.  But science has grown so much over the years it is consistently changing.  But with science and physics they were able to come up with the Big Bang theory.  Not only did they come up with a theory but they were able to prove most of it with evidence.  But with theories that always leaves open ends or questions.  These other questions of the Big Bang were answer with the explanation of inflation.  But no matter what some people are still not going to believe whether they have the evidence or not.  I believe many in this world don’t have the knowledge to completely understand this theory which causes them to still be in wonder.

Works cited

Bennett, Jeffrey. The Essential Cosmic Perspective. 6th ed. San Francisco: Addison-Wesley, 2012. Print.

Hawking, Steven. "Big Bang Theory." Big Bang Theory. Allaboutscience, 2011. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Carr, Karen. "Big Bang." - Space Science for Kids! Dewahost, 23 Oct. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012

"The Big Bang - NASA Science." The Big Bang - NASA Science. NASA, 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Larocco, Chris. "THE BIG BANG: ." THE BIG BANG. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/bigbang.htm

Chapter 1 More on Motion

Chapter 1 Spaceship Earth

Chapter 1 More on the Size of the Universe

Chapter 1 Size of the Universe

Chapter 1 Knowing the Universe

Chapter 1 Place in the Universe

Chapter 2 Planets

Chapter 2 Moon

Chapter 2 Axis

Chapter 2 Seasons

Chapter 2 Constellations

Chapter 2 Our View of the Universe

Chapter 3 Scientific Method

Chapter 3 Copernicus

Chapter 3 Enlightenment

Chapter 3 Islamic Science

Chapter 3 Greek Science

Chapter 3 More Science

Chapter 3 Science

Chapter 4 More Gravity

Chapter 4 Gravity

Chapter 4 Conservation Laws

Chapter 4 Even More Physics

Chapter 4 More Physics

Chapter 4 Physics

Chapter 5 More on Telescopes

Chapter 5 Telescopes

Chapter 5 Doppler

Chapter 5 Temperature

Chapter 5 Spectra

Chapter 5 Light and Matter Interaction

Chapter 5 Light and Matter

Chapter 6 More on Extrasolar Planets

Chapter 6 Extrasolar Planets

Chapter 6 Formation of Asteroids

Chapter 6 Formation of Planets

Chapter 6 Solar System and Galaxy

Chapter 6 Even More Formation of Solar System

Chapter 6 More Formation of Solar System