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Big-bang model
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & Videos
Thousands of distant galaxies in various colors and shapes fill a dark sky in this deep field image from the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI and NIRCam instruments.
Physicist Brian Greene speaks in front of a window, with an illustration of expanding balloons representing the universe on the screen beside him.
Britannica editor Erik Gregersen, a white man wearing glasses, holds a microphone in front of a galaxy background. Displayed above him are the phrases: Ask an Editor, and How old is the universe?
A sequence of five panels illustrates the early stages of the universe after the big bang. The first panel shows a bright explosion. The next panels depict the dense particle soup of quarks, leptons, and their antiparticles, then the formation of protons and neutrons, followed by the creation of atomic nuclei and finally atoms of hydrogen and helium, with radiation present throughout. Diagram illustrating the evolutionary theory of the universe, with two panels: one labeled Now showing clustered galaxies, and a second labeled Billions of years later showing the galaxies spread farther apart, indicating expansion over time. Red lines connect the galaxies to emphasize their increasing distances.
What is the Big-Model?
Know how the centre of the universe changes with different perspectives
How the big-bang theory was developed
Learn about Georges Lemaitre's view on the origin of the universe and the big-bang theory in relation to space expansion
Listen to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson narrate a brief history of the formation of the universe, from the big bang to the present
Quizzes
M101 (NGC 5457, The Pinwheel Galaxy). Hubble Space Telescope image of face-on spiral galaxy Messier 101 (M101). Largest most detailed photo of a spiral galaxy that has ever been released from Hubble. Created from 1994-2003
Everything in Space in a 25-Minute Quiz

Big-bang model: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

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  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Article title updated for style. Nov 09, 2026
Modified link of Web site: The University of Western Australia - Evidence for the Big Bang (PDF). Oct 31, 2026
Add new Web site: IOPscience - Journal of Physics: Conference Series - Explaining the Big Bang (PDF). Sep 22, 2026
Media added. Jul 28, 2026
Add new Web site: American Institute of Physics - Big Bang or Steady State? Mar 28, 2026
Add new Web site: Open Library Publishing Platform - Physical Geology - Starting with a Big Bang. Feb 13, 2026
Add new Web site: Physics LibreTexts - Big Bang Cosmology. Nov 14, 2025
Add new Web site: Physics LibreTexts - The Basic Big Bang Model. Oct 03, 2025
Add new Web site: Fresh Air Archive - Glenn Close. Feb 11, 2025
Add new Web site: Academia - Between Religion and Science. Georges Lema�tre, Pope Pius XII and The Big Bang Theory. Nov 25, 2024
Add new Web site: International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology - Big Bang Theory: Origin of Our Universe. Oct 21, 2024
Add new Web site: University of Central Florida Pressbooks - University Physics Volume 3 - The Big Bang. Jul 29, 2024
Add new Web site: Weber State University - Department of Physics and Astronomy - The Four Pillars of Big Bang Cosmology. Jun 18, 2024
Add new Web site: The University of Western Australia - Evidence for the Big Bang (PDF). May 07, 2024
Add new Web site: OpenStax - University Physics Volume 3 - The Big Bang. Feb 16, 2024
Add new Web site: LiveScience - The Big Bang Theory: How the Universe Began. Nov 07, 2023
Add new Web site: Space.com - What is the Big Bang Theory? Aug 15, 2023
Deleted videos. Jun 04, 2021
Media added. Jun 01, 2021
Add new Web site: Swinburne University of Technology - COSMOS - The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy - Big Bang. Oct 06, 2016
Add new Web site: CSIRO - Australia Telescope National Facility - The Big Bang and the Standard Model of the Universe. Oct 06, 2016
Added videos about the origin of the big-bang theory and the expansion of the universe. Dec 02, 2015
Added video The Genesis of the Universe. Nov 18, 2015
Add new Web site: h2g2 - The Big Bang Theory. May 30, 2014
Add new Web site: American Institute of Physics - Big Bang Theory. Jan 27, 2013
Add new Web site: National Geographic - Science - Big Bang Theory. Jan 27, 2013
Add new Web site: ESA Kids - The Big Bang. Jan 27, 2013
Add new Web site: Quatr.us - Big Bang Theory. Jan 27, 2013
Add new Web site: British Broadcasting Corporation - Big Bang Theory. Jan 27, 2013
Video describing the history of the big-bang model added. Jan 04, 2012
Added video describing the big bang. Feb 09, 2011
Changed spelling of "Alexander Friedmann" to "Aleksandr Friedmann." Aug 26, 2010
Corrected age of universe from "at least 10,000,000,000 years" to "13,700,000,000 years." Added information about cosmic neutrino background. Aug 26, 2010
Add new Web site: Observational Cosmology at University of Wisconsin Madison - A Hot Big Bang. Aug 11, 2010
Add new Web site: Case Western Reserve University - Big Bang. Aug 11, 2010
Add new Web site: NASA - Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe's Universe - Big Bang Cosmology. Aug 09, 2010
Add new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - Big Bang Theory. Aug 09, 2010
Add new Web site: How Stuff Works - Science - How the Big Bang Theory Works. Aug 09, 2010
Add new Web site: Official Site of Bruce Springsteen. Aug 09, 2010
Add new Web site: University of Michigan - The Big Bang. Aug 09, 2010
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Science - How the Big Bang Theory Works. Feb 11, 2009
Added new Web site: Lukas Czarnecki - Astronomy and astrophysics - The Big Bang and the formation of matter. Jun 16, 2008
Added new Web site: American Institute of Physics - Big Bang. Jun 13, 2008
Added new Web site: Introduction to Cosmology. Sep 28, 2006
Article revised. Dec 21, 1998
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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