Just kidding. There is no sound in space, so the BIG BANG did NOT sound like a wet, slobbery whoopee cushion 😜 that your grandfather just sat on:
Alright, buckle up, kids! We're about to embark on an epic adventure through the incredible story of how the universe came to be and how humongous it is. Get ready for some mind-blowing facts and hopefully some whoopee cushions! 🚀🌌
Once upon a time... No, sorry. Hate when stories start like that. Let’s make it more dramatic. 🎭
13.8 billion years ago, there was nothing. Literally, nothing at all. Confusing, because YOU’RE something and yet we had nothing. Out of nowhere, BAM! 💥 The universe burst into existence with a gigantic explosion called the Big Bang. It was like the ultimate fireworks show, but far cooler and infinitely more mammoth. 🎆
When the Big Bang happened, everything was squished into a teeny-tiny, super-dense point called a singularity. It was like stuffing a whole universe into a dot the size of an atom! Talk about compact! 🌍➡️🔴 Imagine how hard it would be to take your house and squish it into a pea-sized ball.
But here's where things get really wild. The universe started to expand, and it expanded really fast, like a balloon being blown up by an intergalactic balloon artist. 🎈👽 This rapid expansion is called cosmic inflation, and it made the universe grow billions and billions of times bigger in the blink of an eye.
As the universe expanded, it started to cool down like a cosmic ice-cream melting in space. 🍦🌠 This cooling allowed the tiniest particles called atoms to form. Atoms are like the building blocks of everything around us, from adorable little crocodile babies 🐊 to massive mountains covered in mountain goats. 🏔️🐐
Now, let's talk about the size of this gigantic universe playground we're in. The observable universe, the part we can see, is like a big bubble around us. And get this—it's about 93 billion light-years across! That's so huge, you could fit billions and billions of galaxies inside it.
🌌 Remember, a light year is the distance light can travel in a single year (also remember that light can whip around the Earth 7 times in a second, so it’s pretty swift). However, here’s the kicker. The universe might be even bigger than what we can see. It could be like an endless ocean, stretching beyond our wildest imaginations. 🌊🔭 Scientists are still trying to figure out its true size, but one thing's for sure—it's mind-bogglingly vast. We’re limited by our eyes, tiny brains, and distance.
The universe came to life with a ginormous bang, expanded like crazy, and formed galaxies, stars, and all the cool stuff we see in the night sky. And as for its size, well, it's bigger than anything you can ever dream of. So keep looking up at the stars, keep asking questions, and who knows?
Maybe one day you'll discover even more mind-blowing secrets of this incredible universe we call home. The thing is…where did it come from? 🤔✨
Think of 4 theories for the origin of the universe:
Practice with this magical, cosmic free worksheet: