The Big Bang, the event that birthed the universe, took place 13.7 billion years ago. However, pinpointing where it occurred is not straightforward. Can we identify a spot in the cosmos and gauge our distance from the origin? Astrophysicist and science communicator Ethan Siegel has pondered this question and explained why scientists often avoid it. Interestingly, we are nearly at the very heart of Creation. It’s quite an odd thought, isn’t it?
Travelling grains of sand
An explosion is a familiar concept: shrapnel flies outward. If one were to mentally reverse this process, the pieces would converge back to a single point—the epicenter.
In the 1930s, astronomers observed that all galaxies appeared to be receding from us. Intriguingly, the more distant the galaxy, the faster its retreat. This raises a peculiar question: what is so repulsive about us?
However, if you adopt the perspective of any shrapnel piece, you perceive yourself as stationary, the center of the universe and the coordinate origin. From this vantage point, all other pieces seem to be moving away from you, and indeed, as astronomers have noted, the more distant the piece, the quicker its departure. This observation provides the answer. It appears as though we are at the epicenter, with everything fleeing from us, yet each fragment perceives the same phenomenon.
Drawn to the unknown
Upon closer examination, it becomes apparent that galaxies are receding from us slightly faster in one direction and slower in the other. This discrepancy seemed to be the clue. However, this ‘key’ is metaphorically rusty and does not fit the ‘lock’. Returning to the concept of an explosion, one might notice in videos of such events that clouds of fire often burst from the epicenter, each spreading uniquely. Similarly, the Big Bang was not uniformly homogeneous.
These irregularities are what we observe.
Our galaxy is evidently being pulled by something immense. This was first detected in 1973, and by 1986, the Great Attractor was identified. Located 250 million light-years away, it holds a mass equivalent to 10 raised to the 16th power of our Sun’s mass. The numbers are so vast that terms like quadrillions or sextillions are inadequate to quantify them.
Should we observe this immense entity to which we’re drawn? Yet, we cannot, as it is veiled by cosmic dust within the disk of our Galaxy.
What we have discovered is a vast cluster of galaxies; however, it is not the source of the pull. The attractor draws our galaxy, a group that includes our own, and a megagroup comprising approximately 100,000 galaxies, known as Laniakea.
Thus, we drift away from the Big Bang’s epicenter, gravitating slightly towards the enigmatic Great Attractor. Everything is so vast and magnificent, while we are so minute.
Is it possible that there is no singular coordinate system that could anchor us and help determine the Big Bang’s original location?
Pigeons to the rescue
An explosion encompasses more than just debris; it includes light as well.
In 1948, astronomer George Gamow observed that the Big Bang’s light hadn’t disappeared but had merely weakened over time. Gamow’s findings initially received little attention, and it was only later that other theorists arrived at similar conclusions, and some observers noticed anomalies without realizing their significance.
In 1965, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were adjusting a malfunctioning radio telescope that persistently emitted a hissing sound. Initially, they blamed pigeons that had soiled the antenna. Yet, even after a thorough cleaning, the noise persisted.
Eventually, it was discovered that this noise was the “light” from the Big Bang. Over billions of years, it had diminished and, in accordance with quantum mechanics, had lost energy, transitioning into the radio wave spectrum, where even today, it can be detected by hobbyists.
Initially, the uniform hissing noise was maddening, but after satellites were launched and measurements taken, it was confirmed that we are indeed moving from the “primordial light” of the Aquarius constellation towards that of Leo. Interestingly, both constellations are zodiacal, meaning our trajectory aligns, for some reason, with Earth’s orbital plane.
Fragments can scatter in various directions or be drawn to one another, similar to our attraction to the Great Attractor. Light serves as the sought-after coordinate system.
Thus, when all is considered, the Big Bang’s epicenter appears remarkably near, merely 17 million light-years away. This distance places it beyond our Galaxy, yet it remains within reach of the nearby galaxies, visible to the naked eye on a clear night, even without a telescope, captured with just a simple camera. It is indeed very close.
Our habitat’s zone is distinct and designated. We reside near the inception of all beginnings. Considering the Universe’s current diameter is approximately a hundred billion light years, and if we hypothesize that the biblical Eden, where Adam and Eve originated, was in today’s Iraq, in Mesopotamia, then we are merely five kilometers from Eden, in an adjacent village. It’s a mere hour’s walk away.
Such a revelation! Did astronomers know yet conceal it? Why would Ethan Siegel, who sports a peculiar hat in his social media avatar (clearly indicating desperation), disclose this? The truth is, it’s both so… and not quite so.
Everywhere and Nowhere
When we envision the Big Bang, we often mistakenly picture a conventional explosion occurring in pre-existing space. We might ask, “Where did it happen? Over on that hill?” as if there were a landscape already present. But the reality is that the Big Bang didn’t occur within space; there was no space at all. It both created and continues to create space, expanding into nothingness.
This realization fundamentally alters our understanding. Consider the universe just a microsecond after the Big Bang, when it was barely larger than an atomic nucleus.
Imagine a fragment of matter (from which our galaxy will later form) addressing a neighboring fragment (destined to become another galaxy):
“Wow! We’re practically neighbors!”
“Not just beside me, but directly beneath me,” concurs your neighbor.
And indeed, we are all neighbors, for the Universe, as we recall, is minuscule.
Thus, you depart. Once neighbors, now so distant that not even light could bridge the gap, rendering each other invisible.
You sit by the hearth, surrounded by grandchildren, recounting:
“It was an intense affair. There was only void, darkness, and then, suddenly, right beside me.”
Similarly, a galaxy at the universe’s far end narrates to its own ‘grandchildren’ the very same tale. For it, too, everything was ‘close by,’ it was also the chosen one! Here, we are all the chosen, and for the common person, it is daunting to comprehend.
What does this simple narrative imply? That in the Universe, there are no favorites, that the center lies everywhere, that across the globe, the same natural laws apply. This implies – yes, it appears that Paradise is just within reach. It’s even visible. But this vision is shared by all, and perhaps Paradise is but an illusion, or conversely, the very essence that bestows its blessings upon us all?
Indeed, there is much to ponder.
