Hubble Telescope sees the past... The really really past! (Astrophysics)

[lyndserae]

An AP story about the Hubble has me wondering about something.

http://tinyurl.com/ycnaen7

I know that the Hubble uses microwaves and other forms of energy to create composite images of what the universe looked like a long time ago. The picture referenced in the article is purportedly from 600 million years after the big bang, and shows "seedling" galaxies.

Is there any evidence at all against the idea that the big bang is still happening- that the universe is being born right now?

I've never been interested in "the beginning" (more of a "now" with a commanding view of the "soon to be" kind of lady, m'self) so I will admit that this is just a wild instinct on my part.

Anyone care to help educate a youngster?

[Grant]

Like most good ideas your one has already been thought of - see Fred Hoyle's steady state theory - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steady_State_theory

Hoyle actually came up with the name "Big Bang Theory" but he didn't believe in it himself.

Frankly, my knowledge of physics is very much a popular science one so I can't offer any enlightenment, but I suppose an Applied Epistemologist should say "Isn't it extraordinary that we humans cry out for stories with a clear beginning, middle and end, and here we find in the Big Bang itself a very clear beginning?"

[lyndserae]

Fascinating, Grant! This is just the kind of thing I was thinking of. I don't mind having an idea that someone else had- it lets me know that at least I've not lost my mind!

It seems like the idea has lost popularity, but only because it didn't "predict" what we are able to see. I'm not sure that something has to be predictable to be real.

I have often imagined the universe to be more "foamy"- folding in on itself and giving the illusion of boundlessness. What vexes me most about these little ideas that I get now and again is that I can begin to imagine a universe that is truly infinite. There are times when I think about it and I "get" the endlessness. Sadly, I don't have the math skills to write it down for anyone!

[Chad]

[lyndserae]