AstronomyNZ

Presented By Antony Gomez

In 1981 a young physicist, Alan Guth, came up with an absurd idea: just 10-35 seconds after the Big Bang, the Universe went through a period of ultra-fast expansion. It ended a mere fraction later, 10-32 seconds after the Big Bang, yet the Universe had grown some 1078 times larger in volume. No one can prove this inflation actually happened or suggest a compelling reason as to why it should have. There is little direct evidence that inflation took place but the idea seems to nevertheless solve several major problems in cosmology. Inflation is now well established as an essential component of cosmology. Observations of the cosmic microwave background are consistent with the idea but that doesn’t mean it actually took place. So how confident can we be that inflation is really part of the Universe’s history?

Documentary

The Universe – Episode 1: Beyond the Big Bang

The universe began with a massive expansion, billions and billions of years ago, and it continues to expand with every passing second. The idea that the universe, and our very existence, began with a "Big Bang" is no longer a topic of debate among most scientists--it is essentially taken as fact. How we have come to this conclusion, and how has our knowledge evolved so that we can recreate the very first seconds of our universe and all that has developed since? Interviews with the world's leading physicists and historians are woven together with animated recreations and first-person accounts to explain concepts such as the formation of galaxies, the creation of elements and the formation of Earth itself

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