What is proposed as evidence that supports the Big Bang Theory?
1 Answer
Evidence that shows that the observed universe is expanding.
Explanation:
The red shift observed in the universe was one of the first forms of evidence for the Big Bang. The red shift or doppler effect gives evidence that the observed objects in the universe are moving away from each other. If the objects in the universe are moving away from each other then the universe is expanding.
The logic is if the universe is expanding now it must have been smaller at one time. Extrapolating backwards the universe is proposed to have been at one time a superdense ball of matter.
Such a superdense ball of matter would have been unstable. The Big Bang proposes that this superdense ball exploded.
The idea of the universe beginning with an explosive expansion predicts that there should be background radiation. This predicted background radiation was discovered providing further evidence for the Big Bang Theory.
The Big Bang Theory was resisted because scientists used to believe that the universe was eternal and existed in a steady state. The prevailing scientific philosophy of material realism mandated that matter and energy are all that there is and therefore must be eternal. Evidence that the expansion of the universe is increasing in rate indicates that the present universe not only had a beginning but will also have an ending.
