In the beginning, there was nothing, or in another way of wording it, only “inside.” At least that is according to Stephen Hawking in episode three of his Documentary series, “Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking” (Smithsonian). This episode describes the formation of the universe as we know it. As this is a difficult topic to explain, some simplifications are made: for example, comparing all the initial matter of the universe to ball bearings, or comparing the sun to an onion, but what I think we really need to take away from this video are the two main ingredients of our universe that boils down to matter and gravity because without one, you cannot have the other (Hawking).
At the beginning, when space did not even exist yet, about 14 billion years ago, the Big Bang occurred (Science). From that initial explosion of both matter and anti-matter of which there was only a little more matter present than antimatter that survived until today, (which is good as one destroys the other when they combine and we would not exist if they were equal in number) the remaining matter expanded out from the center at almost unimaginable speeds, cooling as it moved farther and farther apart and forming our universe (Hawking).
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"Origin of the Universe: Summary".
From the stuff that survived the initial creation and destruction of the universe, there was enough matter left to form our entire universe. But the real grit of the program is how the universe was formed. As described with ball bearings, when all the left over matter had been roughly distributed almost evenly across space, not everything was distributed evenly, which is the reason the universe did not stagnate and instead is changing constantly. The fact that gravity was and still is pulling on everything, causing constant movement in unequal distribution, matter was able to collide and combine with other matter around it producing something new. Because of this movement, atoms were formed as the initial matter of the universe collided and stuck together. The first atoms to form were Hydrogen as they are the lightest and simplest, but that is not where things stop because gravity is always at work even among the tiniest of elements. As these atoms gathered together the original space gas was formed and from the bunching of this material stars were formed. And just like our planet (and ogres), within every star, there are layers almost like an onion on a massive scale (Smithsonian).
Within the giant onion that is a star, hydrogen atoms form the outer most layer, but as those atoms combine due to gravity, new atoms like Helium are formed, which by its very nature is heavier that hydrogen atoms, forcing them to sink in more towards the center of the star as gravity pulls on them more than the hydrogen atoms. Then, from there larger and larger atoms form like Carbon (from the combination of hydrogen atoms), Oxygen (from the combination of carbon atoms) and Iron (from the combination of oxygen atoms) each with their own more internal layer than the last (Smithsonian).
As each pair of atoms combines through fusion, heat and energy is produced in excess of 10 million degrees which provides energy for the entire solar system and our planet in particular. There is an end to this cycle though, once iron is formed, no more excess energy is produced from its fusion thus, once all the atoms making up the sun form into a core of iron or even heavier elements like gold, platinum or lead, there will be no more fuel to sustain the sun as we know it. Hence, when that happens, the Sun’s light will go out as will our planet and all life as we know it unless somehow we find a way to preserve ourselves somewhere new (Smithsonian).
- Hawking, Stephen, “The Origin of the Universe,” http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-origin-of-the-universe.html.
- Science, “Origins of the Universe” National Geographic, 2015.
- Smithson, Darlow. “Stephen Hawking’s Universe—The Story of Everything” Vimeo. Narration by Stephen Hawking and Benedict Cumberbatch, May 2, 2010 https://vimeo.com/17777145
