Why can’t you see at the start of the Big Bang?What did recombination look like?Why was the universe in an extraordinarily low-entropy state right after the big bang?How precisely can we date the recombination?How could mass exist before Big Bang?If temperature is dependent on mass, how did the early universe have a temperature?Qualitative picture or reference for a Lemaître's Cold Big Bang theoryWhy is it said that photon-wavelengths have increased by a factor of 1000 since our universe became transparent to light?Why is CMB not considered as the edge of the universe?How is the CMB used to determine the age of the universe?What if humans doubled size… and everything else… could we notice?Why did recombination make the universe transparent?
if i accidentally leaked my schools ip address and someone d doses my school am i at fault
How to get MAX value using SOQL when there are more than 50,000 rows
Can a planet still function with a damaged moon?
When do you stop "pushing" a book?
What's the difference between "ricochet" and "bounce"?
Passport stamps art, can it be done?
Is it a Munchausen Number?
Can I use a 11-23 11-speed shimano cassette with the RD-R8000 11-speed Ultegra Shadow Rear Derailleur (short cage)?
Are wands in any sort of book going to be too much like Harry Potter?
How to find the transfer orbit from a initial circular orbit to a final elliptical orbit
Identity of a supposed anonymous referee revealed through "Description" of the report
What does the "DS" in "DS-..." US visa application forms stand for?
Is there an idiom that means "revealing a secret unintentionally"?
Why do the Avengers care about returning these items in Endgame?
Best species to breed to intelligence
Double underlining a result in a system of equations with calculation steps on the right side
Renting a house to a graduate student in my department
Was there a contingency plan in place if Little Boy failed to detonate?
How did Captain Marvel know where to find these characters?
How do I minimise waste on a flight?
Names of the Six Tastes
Narcissistic cube asks who are we?
Is it safe to keep the GPU on 100% utilization for a very long time?
Do Monks gain the 9th level Unarmored Movement benefit when wearing armor or using a shield?
Why can’t you see at the start of the Big Bang?
What did recombination look like?Why was the universe in an extraordinarily low-entropy state right after the big bang?How precisely can we date the recombination?How could mass exist before Big Bang?If temperature is dependent on mass, how did the early universe have a temperature?Qualitative picture or reference for a Lemaître's Cold Big Bang theoryWhy is it said that photon-wavelengths have increased by a factor of 1000 since our universe became transparent to light?Why is CMB not considered as the edge of the universe?How is the CMB used to determine the age of the universe?What if humans doubled size… and everything else… could we notice?Why did recombination make the universe transparent?
$begingroup$
I’m quite confused with regards to photon emission throughout the creation of the universe.
From what I’ve heard, there was no light (of any frequency) in the universe until 300,000 years after the Big Bang. This because then the universe cooled down enough to allow for atoms. However, it seems that electrons were created at ~3 minutes after the Big Bang. In this big electron soup, where they are constantly being thrusted around, aren’t they being accelerated and hence would release radiation? Then there should be light due to the accelerated electrons (just like how accelerated electrons produce radio waves right?)
cosmology electromagnetic-radiation big-bang plasma-physics cosmic-microwave-background
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I’m quite confused with regards to photon emission throughout the creation of the universe.
From what I’ve heard, there was no light (of any frequency) in the universe until 300,000 years after the Big Bang. This because then the universe cooled down enough to allow for atoms. However, it seems that electrons were created at ~3 minutes after the Big Bang. In this big electron soup, where they are constantly being thrusted around, aren’t they being accelerated and hence would release radiation? Then there should be light due to the accelerated electrons (just like how accelerated electrons produce radio waves right?)
cosmology electromagnetic-radiation big-bang plasma-physics cosmic-microwave-background
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I’m quite confused with regards to photon emission throughout the creation of the universe.
From what I’ve heard, there was no light (of any frequency) in the universe until 300,000 years after the Big Bang. This because then the universe cooled down enough to allow for atoms. However, it seems that electrons were created at ~3 minutes after the Big Bang. In this big electron soup, where they are constantly being thrusted around, aren’t they being accelerated and hence would release radiation? Then there should be light due to the accelerated electrons (just like how accelerated electrons produce radio waves right?)
cosmology electromagnetic-radiation big-bang plasma-physics cosmic-microwave-background
$endgroup$
I’m quite confused with regards to photon emission throughout the creation of the universe.
From what I’ve heard, there was no light (of any frequency) in the universe until 300,000 years after the Big Bang. This because then the universe cooled down enough to allow for atoms. However, it seems that electrons were created at ~3 minutes after the Big Bang. In this big electron soup, where they are constantly being thrusted around, aren’t they being accelerated and hence would release radiation? Then there should be light due to the accelerated electrons (just like how accelerated electrons produce radio waves right?)
cosmology electromagnetic-radiation big-bang plasma-physics cosmic-microwave-background
cosmology electromagnetic-radiation big-bang plasma-physics cosmic-microwave-background
edited May 6 at 4:18
Qmechanic♦
109k122041258
109k122041258
asked May 6 at 0:59
John HonJohn Hon
586514
586514
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
You heard wrong. There were photons, electrons, protons, and neutrons before 300,000 years. And before 3 minutes! (And before there were protons and neutrons, there were quarks.)
Before 300,000 years, the photons could not propagate freely; they were being constantly scattered by the charged plasma of protons and electrons. The universe was effectively opaque.
Around 300,000 years, the universe had cooled enough that protons and electrons could form hydrogen atoms. A few other light elements also formed, because protons and neutrons had earlier formed helium nuclei, etc.
Atoms are overall electrically neutral and do not scatter photons nearly as much as a charged plasma does. So, after 300,000 years, the photons could move right through the neutral hydrogen gas. The universe became transparent. Cosmic photons created in the Big Bang have been moving without scattering for billions of years since “recombination”, the formation of neutral atoms.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I understand that if photons are being scattered, you could not see what’s infront of you, however, if photons did exist, your “eyes” would get stimulated right (if they didn’t melt)
$endgroup$
– John Hon
May 6 at 4:03
10
$begingroup$
@John It'd be like being inside a giant neon sign. You can't see very far in a universe of bright orange fog. But that's ok, since there's virtually no structure to see anyway, just minute deviations in the fog density. You can see an approximation of the colour of the universe when it was starting to become transparent at the end of this answer: physics.stackexchange.com/a/133943/123208
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
May 6 at 4:10
8
$begingroup$
I think I had a teacher once who said it would be like looking through milky water in all directions, you aren't realistically going to be able to see much.
$endgroup$
– Tom
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom That's a good analogy. Now imagine that, but very, very hot.
$endgroup$
– wizzwizz4
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Tom or a burning warehouse, except you crank the burning warehouse up to Michael Bay Nuclear explosion pressed against your eyeball.
$endgroup$
– Aron
2 days ago
|
show 2 more comments
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "151"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f478191%2fwhy-can-t-you-see-at-the-start-of-the-big-bang%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
You heard wrong. There were photons, electrons, protons, and neutrons before 300,000 years. And before 3 minutes! (And before there were protons and neutrons, there were quarks.)
Before 300,000 years, the photons could not propagate freely; they were being constantly scattered by the charged plasma of protons and electrons. The universe was effectively opaque.
Around 300,000 years, the universe had cooled enough that protons and electrons could form hydrogen atoms. A few other light elements also formed, because protons and neutrons had earlier formed helium nuclei, etc.
Atoms are overall electrically neutral and do not scatter photons nearly as much as a charged plasma does. So, after 300,000 years, the photons could move right through the neutral hydrogen gas. The universe became transparent. Cosmic photons created in the Big Bang have been moving without scattering for billions of years since “recombination”, the formation of neutral atoms.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I understand that if photons are being scattered, you could not see what’s infront of you, however, if photons did exist, your “eyes” would get stimulated right (if they didn’t melt)
$endgroup$
– John Hon
May 6 at 4:03
10
$begingroup$
@John It'd be like being inside a giant neon sign. You can't see very far in a universe of bright orange fog. But that's ok, since there's virtually no structure to see anyway, just minute deviations in the fog density. You can see an approximation of the colour of the universe when it was starting to become transparent at the end of this answer: physics.stackexchange.com/a/133943/123208
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
May 6 at 4:10
8
$begingroup$
I think I had a teacher once who said it would be like looking through milky water in all directions, you aren't realistically going to be able to see much.
$endgroup$
– Tom
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom That's a good analogy. Now imagine that, but very, very hot.
$endgroup$
– wizzwizz4
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Tom or a burning warehouse, except you crank the burning warehouse up to Michael Bay Nuclear explosion pressed against your eyeball.
$endgroup$
– Aron
2 days ago
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
You heard wrong. There were photons, electrons, protons, and neutrons before 300,000 years. And before 3 minutes! (And before there were protons and neutrons, there were quarks.)
Before 300,000 years, the photons could not propagate freely; they were being constantly scattered by the charged plasma of protons and electrons. The universe was effectively opaque.
Around 300,000 years, the universe had cooled enough that protons and electrons could form hydrogen atoms. A few other light elements also formed, because protons and neutrons had earlier formed helium nuclei, etc.
Atoms are overall electrically neutral and do not scatter photons nearly as much as a charged plasma does. So, after 300,000 years, the photons could move right through the neutral hydrogen gas. The universe became transparent. Cosmic photons created in the Big Bang have been moving without scattering for billions of years since “recombination”, the formation of neutral atoms.
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I understand that if photons are being scattered, you could not see what’s infront of you, however, if photons did exist, your “eyes” would get stimulated right (if they didn’t melt)
$endgroup$
– John Hon
May 6 at 4:03
10
$begingroup$
@John It'd be like being inside a giant neon sign. You can't see very far in a universe of bright orange fog. But that's ok, since there's virtually no structure to see anyway, just minute deviations in the fog density. You can see an approximation of the colour of the universe when it was starting to become transparent at the end of this answer: physics.stackexchange.com/a/133943/123208
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
May 6 at 4:10
8
$begingroup$
I think I had a teacher once who said it would be like looking through milky water in all directions, you aren't realistically going to be able to see much.
$endgroup$
– Tom
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom That's a good analogy. Now imagine that, but very, very hot.
$endgroup$
– wizzwizz4
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Tom or a burning warehouse, except you crank the burning warehouse up to Michael Bay Nuclear explosion pressed against your eyeball.
$endgroup$
– Aron
2 days ago
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
You heard wrong. There were photons, electrons, protons, and neutrons before 300,000 years. And before 3 minutes! (And before there were protons and neutrons, there were quarks.)
Before 300,000 years, the photons could not propagate freely; they were being constantly scattered by the charged plasma of protons and electrons. The universe was effectively opaque.
Around 300,000 years, the universe had cooled enough that protons and electrons could form hydrogen atoms. A few other light elements also formed, because protons and neutrons had earlier formed helium nuclei, etc.
Atoms are overall electrically neutral and do not scatter photons nearly as much as a charged plasma does. So, after 300,000 years, the photons could move right through the neutral hydrogen gas. The universe became transparent. Cosmic photons created in the Big Bang have been moving without scattering for billions of years since “recombination”, the formation of neutral atoms.
$endgroup$
You heard wrong. There were photons, electrons, protons, and neutrons before 300,000 years. And before 3 minutes! (And before there were protons and neutrons, there were quarks.)
Before 300,000 years, the photons could not propagate freely; they were being constantly scattered by the charged plasma of protons and electrons. The universe was effectively opaque.
Around 300,000 years, the universe had cooled enough that protons and electrons could form hydrogen atoms. A few other light elements also formed, because protons and neutrons had earlier formed helium nuclei, etc.
Atoms are overall electrically neutral and do not scatter photons nearly as much as a charged plasma does. So, after 300,000 years, the photons could move right through the neutral hydrogen gas. The universe became transparent. Cosmic photons created in the Big Bang have been moving without scattering for billions of years since “recombination”, the formation of neutral atoms.
edited 2 days ago
answered May 6 at 1:34
G. SmithG. Smith
12.2k11941
12.2k11941
$begingroup$
I understand that if photons are being scattered, you could not see what’s infront of you, however, if photons did exist, your “eyes” would get stimulated right (if they didn’t melt)
$endgroup$
– John Hon
May 6 at 4:03
10
$begingroup$
@John It'd be like being inside a giant neon sign. You can't see very far in a universe of bright orange fog. But that's ok, since there's virtually no structure to see anyway, just minute deviations in the fog density. You can see an approximation of the colour of the universe when it was starting to become transparent at the end of this answer: physics.stackexchange.com/a/133943/123208
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
May 6 at 4:10
8
$begingroup$
I think I had a teacher once who said it would be like looking through milky water in all directions, you aren't realistically going to be able to see much.
$endgroup$
– Tom
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom That's a good analogy. Now imagine that, but very, very hot.
$endgroup$
– wizzwizz4
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Tom or a burning warehouse, except you crank the burning warehouse up to Michael Bay Nuclear explosion pressed against your eyeball.
$endgroup$
– Aron
2 days ago
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
I understand that if photons are being scattered, you could not see what’s infront of you, however, if photons did exist, your “eyes” would get stimulated right (if they didn’t melt)
$endgroup$
– John Hon
May 6 at 4:03
10
$begingroup$
@John It'd be like being inside a giant neon sign. You can't see very far in a universe of bright orange fog. But that's ok, since there's virtually no structure to see anyway, just minute deviations in the fog density. You can see an approximation of the colour of the universe when it was starting to become transparent at the end of this answer: physics.stackexchange.com/a/133943/123208
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
May 6 at 4:10
8
$begingroup$
I think I had a teacher once who said it would be like looking through milky water in all directions, you aren't realistically going to be able to see much.
$endgroup$
– Tom
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom That's a good analogy. Now imagine that, but very, very hot.
$endgroup$
– wizzwizz4
2 days ago
1
$begingroup$
@Tom or a burning warehouse, except you crank the burning warehouse up to Michael Bay Nuclear explosion pressed against your eyeball.
$endgroup$
– Aron
2 days ago
$begingroup$
I understand that if photons are being scattered, you could not see what’s infront of you, however, if photons did exist, your “eyes” would get stimulated right (if they didn’t melt)
$endgroup$
– John Hon
May 6 at 4:03
$begingroup$
I understand that if photons are being scattered, you could not see what’s infront of you, however, if photons did exist, your “eyes” would get stimulated right (if they didn’t melt)
$endgroup$
– John Hon
May 6 at 4:03
10
10
$begingroup$
@John It'd be like being inside a giant neon sign. You can't see very far in a universe of bright orange fog. But that's ok, since there's virtually no structure to see anyway, just minute deviations in the fog density. You can see an approximation of the colour of the universe when it was starting to become transparent at the end of this answer: physics.stackexchange.com/a/133943/123208
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
May 6 at 4:10
$begingroup$
@John It'd be like being inside a giant neon sign. You can't see very far in a universe of bright orange fog. But that's ok, since there's virtually no structure to see anyway, just minute deviations in the fog density. You can see an approximation of the colour of the universe when it was starting to become transparent at the end of this answer: physics.stackexchange.com/a/133943/123208
$endgroup$
– PM 2Ring
May 6 at 4:10
8
8
$begingroup$
I think I had a teacher once who said it would be like looking through milky water in all directions, you aren't realistically going to be able to see much.
$endgroup$
– Tom
2 days ago
$begingroup$
I think I had a teacher once who said it would be like looking through milky water in all directions, you aren't realistically going to be able to see much.
$endgroup$
– Tom
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom That's a good analogy. Now imagine that, but very, very hot.
$endgroup$
– wizzwizz4
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom That's a good analogy. Now imagine that, but very, very hot.
$endgroup$
– wizzwizz4
2 days ago
1
1
$begingroup$
@Tom or a burning warehouse, except you crank the burning warehouse up to Michael Bay Nuclear explosion pressed against your eyeball.
$endgroup$
– Aron
2 days ago
$begingroup$
@Tom or a burning warehouse, except you crank the burning warehouse up to Michael Bay Nuclear explosion pressed against your eyeball.
$endgroup$
– Aron
2 days ago
|
show 2 more comments
Thanks for contributing an answer to Physics Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f478191%2fwhy-can-t-you-see-at-the-start-of-the-big-bang%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown