The Origin Of The Universe.

[ossian]

Do we know exactly where in the universe the Big Bang occurred?

ossian

[Milvus]

As it started from a singularity, it started everywhere at the same time.
Secretly though, my money is on Neasden

[jim360]

The Big Bang occurred everywhere at once -- since, before the Big Bang, by definition there was nowhere for it to happen. In that sense the Big Bang is when the Universe was created, emerged, or created itself, whatever the best way of putting it is. Anyway, before it there was nowhere (not even a before), and afterwards there was everywhere.

[jomifl]

The only reference points we have in the universe is us. So it would not be too inaccurate to say that it happened right here.

[vascop]

Yes, how could it occur somewhere in the universe, when there was no universe for it to occur in?

[vascop]

I hate the fact that it's called "the big bang", it's a total misnomer. It wasn't an explosion in the normal sense of the word. All these television programs with their fancy graphics with exploding balloons (Horizon) don't help either.

[starone]

You could drive yourself mad if you kept going round and round trying to discover what caused it and when and where it was. You never will so just accept we are here and our stay is very short.

[Old_Geezer]

It was inevitable since there is no certainty that it can't happen, so it had to.

As folk have said, we do know exactly where in the universe it occurred. A little consideration tells you it has to be everywhere since it wasn't there prior to pick one part of it.

[vascop]

But how can we say it happened everywhere in the universe when there was no universe?

[jim360]

The exploding balloon thing is about as close as you can get, really -- at least for what happens afterwards. It's a right pain trying to visualise because invariably the language we have available is utterly inadequate to describe what went on. Essentially, though, everywhere in the Universe spontaneously came into being all at once.

[jomifl]

Jim, It is possible isn't it that the big bang is still happening but far beyond the visible limits of the universe.? A bit like crystallisation radiating from a point in a supersaturated solution.

[jim360]

I think so -- I suppose it depends on how you define the Big Bang. I probably think of it still -- wrongly -- as a moment in time, but if you change the definition to the creation of spacetime then there's perhaps no reason in principle why it couldn't still be occurring. But that's something beyond my area of study really, so I don't know.

[LazyGun]

Interesting point though - I had never considered that we might consider the process commonly referred to as "The Big Bang" as being an ongoing process.

[Peter Pedant]

Yeah I have this difficulty that there has to be a point of origin IN something (like 3 D or 4D space in time)
and it is clear from Those WHo Know that in fact it isnt like that .

[jim360]

If the Universe existed as a 4d thing embedded in a 5d hyper-thing then there would be a point of origin. However the point is that it wouldn't be inside the Universe, but "outside it", so to speak. Again, the balloon analogy helps a bit. At you blow up the balloon it's clear that its surface is expanding, but you can't find the place that's at the centre of the expansion on the surface. In fact it's inside the balloon -- but if only the surface were the Universe then you couldn't find it and you'd have to say that the expansion is "everywhere at once". Unless of course the balloon people could dream of a higher dimension and predict that their flat world was a closed almost-sphere supported inside a higher dimension...

[Old_Geezer]

You can say it because the BB created the universe (you may even consider it was the universe) and so all over the universe is the only place it could be.

[ToraToraTora]

yes, everywhere!

[jomifl]

The point where the big bang commenced is the only reference point we have in the proto universe and since what became us was at that point then it must have happened just here.... and just their too.,

[squarebear]

What's all this big bang nonsense? Surely everyone knows the universe was created by an old man with a long white beard sat on a throne with a magical wave of his hand? ;)

[jomifl]

SB, I don't think it was that simple, It took him six days after all. Why it took him so long to do the cosmetic bits on the Earth defeats me, he created the entire universe(less the fiddly bits on Earth) in a couple of days. Perhaps he was moonlighting.

[jim360]

Not until Day 4 He wasn't!