Why can't we locate the position of the "big bang" in space with respect to where we are now?

Answer 1

The Universe is not like anything else. It doesn't have a center. The popular model for illustration says to imagine yourself on the surface of an expanding sphere. Everything would be receding from you at speeds proportional to the distance. And there would be no center of that surface. There would be a center of the sphere, though, but that's where the analogy breaks down. We can picture the center of a sphere and point to it because it is 3-dimensional and so are we. But some believe the Universe is curved in the fourth dimension so we cannot point to or conceive the center.

If you don't accept that explanation, there is another way of looking at it. The Universe is all that is or ever was. It is not contained in anything. There is no "beyond" or "before." Any location must be considered in reference to something. But the Universe is not in reference to anything. There is nothing for it to be in reference to. Having a center would imply location and the ability to reference it to something. The Universe is the only thing in the Universe which defies this perception. And when you think about it, that is exactly what we should expect the Universe to be like.

Answer 2

The Primeval Atom (the hypothesis behind the Big Bang theory) was the entire universe. It had unbounded density and temperature and has been expanding (therefore cooling and becoming less dense) ever since.

The Big Bang theory merely explains the expansion (and what happens because of it). Big Bang is silent about how (and why) it all began. Big Bang is also silent about how the world (Earth) began.

Becasue ALL the universe began expanding at the same time, then there is not a location where it occured. It occured everywhere. Even here.

However, because of the finite speed of light, whenever we look far away, we also look into the past and, if we look 'far enough' we see the remnant of the recombination event (when the temperature cooled down to 3000 K -- approx. 5000F) which took place a little over 13 billion years ago. Before this event, the universe was not transparent, therefore we cannot see further back in time.

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The Bible is silent about the beginning of the universe. It does talk about the creation of the heaven and the Earth.

I avoid the King James version which I do not find to be that good a translation. I try to go to the original or to cross-check many versions.

But this part of the discussion would belong in another YA category.

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The Primeval Atom hypothesis was formulated by a Christian priest as the most obvious explanation for what we see in the universe.

It was opposed by atheists who were behind the only other viable alternative (Steady State) which offered an eternal universe -- therefore no need for a creator. They are the ones who gave the name "Big Bang" to the theory of universal expansion, as a means to make fun of it (everyone knew that an explosion requires something to explode into and if there was something for the unverse to explode into, then it was not created because something already existed).

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KBW3's answer is good. And his analogy is better than he thinks. The surface of a sphere (which can be seen as a 2-D object) does not contain a centre. The sphere (a 3-D object) does have a centre. If the surface is expanding equally in all its points, then it is expanding from that other point which does not belong to the 2-D suface but belongs to the 3-D sphere.

Same with the Universe.

The 3-D universe is (apparently) infinite. It has no centre and it is expanding. It does not seem to be expanding from any point within the universe.

However, if we look at space-time (a 4-D object), there is a point "located" almost 14 billion years ago that seems to be the centre of expansion.

Answer 3

Scientists have no way of knowing whether or not some 'thing' existed prior to the Big Bang, therefore at the instant of the Big Bang all the space that exists today first came into existence. In other words, the Big Bang happened every 'where' at once. Consequently there is no center to the universe; wherever you might be located in the universe that point would seem to be the center because everything else would be observed to be moving away.

Answer 4

Once the big bang occured, everything expanded outward in EVERY direction. We don't know where the center of our universe, Earth may be the center, or the end of the universe may be the center. Once the big bang occured, the speed of expansion changed, this way some objects move farther away faster so we can't just look at the center of the universe.

Answer 5

It is because we were part of the big bang. Every atom that existed. Thus, the big bang is everywhere, and we cannot locate it as it was everywhere.

Answer 6

Quite simply because the big bang happened everywhere. The way we "see" the big bang is in background radiation that exists everywhere throughout space. For more information hit up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_bang

Answer 7

Because we live on the outer edge of our Galaxy and cannot see into the center of the Universe.

Answer 8

We can't tell where it is because between us and the middle of the universe there's too much crap. All the solar dust blocks our views of everything after a certain point. We can guess where it is, but we can't see it!

Answer 9

Because according to the Bible, there was no big bang.

God created all the Heavens and the Earth all at one time.

Hence, no original starting point.

Answer 10

Because the "BIG GUY" says it aint the time!