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What is the big bang theory?

The big bang theory is the explanation most commonly accepted by astronomers (scientists specializing in the study of matter in outer space) for the origin of the universe. According to this theory, the universe began 15,000,000,000 to 20,000,000,000 years ago as a single point that underwent a tremendous explosion, called the "big bang." Particles were spewed forth and became the building blocks of matter (anything that has a form and occupies space). In time, this matter came together in huge clumps to form galaxies (groups of bodies). Smaller clumps within the galaxies formed stars. Parts of at least one clump of matter became the planets in Earth's solar system (the group of bodies that revolve around the Sun).

The big bang theory was first proposed in 1929 by American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889–1953), who demonstrated that the universe is still expanding. Soon thereafter Belgian...

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1. Galileo Galilei