1 00:00:01,366 --> 00:00:05,266 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:05,300 --> 00:00:10,966 NARRATOR: We live in a tiny corner of a vast universe. 3 00:00:12,133 --> 00:00:15,266 A place filled with an amazing array 4 00:00:15,300 --> 00:00:20,066 {\an1}of cosmic wonders. 5 00:00:20,100 --> 00:00:23,700 {\an1}There are blazars, quasars, magnetars, pulsars. 6 00:00:23,733 --> 00:00:25,800 DAVID KAISER: Swirling gas clouds, 7 00:00:25,833 --> 00:00:28,400 {\an1}enormous black holes, 8 00:00:28,433 --> 00:00:30,533 the collision of colossal objects. 9 00:00:30,566 --> 00:00:33,900 NARRATOR: Yet, from the bounds 10 00:00:33,933 --> 00:00:38,100 {\an1}of our small, lonesome planet, 11 00:00:38,133 --> 00:00:41,533 we have set out to explore our universe, 12 00:00:41,566 --> 00:00:44,400 {\an1}searching for answers 13 00:00:44,433 --> 00:00:48,566 {\an1}to some of humanity's biggest questions. 14 00:00:50,966 --> 00:00:53,000 {\an1}SYLVESTER JAMES GATES, JR.: Why are we even here? 15 00:00:53,033 --> 00:00:55,033 {\an1}Or maybe I should say, "How are we even here?" 16 00:00:55,066 --> 00:00:58,033 NARRATOR: We even dare to ask, 17 00:00:58,066 --> 00:01:00,766 {\an1}"How did it all begin?" 18 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,600 ♪ ♪ 19 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,066 KATIE MACK: We can see the light from the time 20 00:01:07,100 --> 00:01:08,966 {\an1}when the whole universe was on fire. 21 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,066 NARRATOR: And was there anything before the Big Bang? 22 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:15,933 HIRANYA PEIRIS: It wouldn't have been like anything that 23 00:01:15,966 --> 00:01:18,466 {\an1}we can ever experience or imagine. 24 00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:20,700 HAKEEM OLUSEYI: But if we do find it, 25 00:01:20,733 --> 00:01:23,900 {\an1}then that means we can measure the actual conditions 26 00:01:23,933 --> 00:01:27,266 {\an1}of the moment of creation. 27 00:01:27,300 --> 00:01:28,733 {\an1}That's... (imitates explosion) ...nuts, right? 28 00:01:28,766 --> 00:01:33,400 ♪ ♪ 29 00:01:33,433 --> 00:01:35,900 NARRATOR: "The Big Bang." 30 00:01:35,933 --> 00:01:38,266 {\an1}Right now, on "NOVA." 31 00:01:38,300 --> 00:01:38,366 ♪ ♪ 32 00:02:00,066 --> 00:02:03,033 {\an1}♪ See me when I float like a dove ♪ 33 00:02:03,066 --> 00:02:06,700 {\an1}♪ The skies above are lined with trees ♪ 34 00:02:06,733 --> 00:02:10,166 {\an1}♪ I'm on my knees, begging please ♪ 35 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:16,333 {\an1}♪ Come and take me away ♪ 36 00:02:24,066 --> 00:02:29,266 ♪ ♪ 37 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,266 NARRATOR: Each of us had a beginning, 38 00:02:36,300 --> 00:02:40,566 {\an1}the moment we entered the universe 39 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,900 {\an1}and took our place on this planet. 40 00:02:44,933 --> 00:02:50,066 ♪ ♪ 41 00:02:50,100 --> 00:02:54,566 {\an8}But our planet had a beginning, too. 42 00:02:56,366 --> 00:03:00,833 {\an1}As did our galaxy, the Milky Way. 43 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,633 {\an1}And billions of other galaxies. 44 00:03:06,666 --> 00:03:10,066 {\an1}Trillions of stars and planets 45 00:03:10,100 --> 00:03:14,300 {\an1}that make up our vast cosmos. 46 00:03:14,333 --> 00:03:18,200 {\an1}All of it must have started somewhere, 47 00:03:18,233 --> 00:03:21,633 {\an1}even the universe itself. 48 00:03:21,666 --> 00:03:24,666 {\an7}Every human civilization has some creation myth. 49 00:03:24,700 --> 00:03:26,766 {\an8}♪ ♪ 50 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,366 {\an8}GATES: Why are we even here? 51 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,800 {\an7}Or maybe I should say, "How are we even here?" 52 00:03:33,300 --> 00:03:35,000 {\an8}ARCAND: How did the universe begin? 53 00:03:35,033 --> 00:03:37,100 {\an7}These questions, they're huge. 54 00:03:37,133 --> 00:03:38,733 {\an8}♪ ♪ 55 00:03:38,766 --> 00:03:41,333 {\an8}NARRATOR: Questions that have remained unanswered 56 00:03:41,366 --> 00:03:43,833 {\an7}for much of human history. 57 00:03:43,866 --> 00:03:49,766 {\an7}Only in the last 70 years have we ventured into space 58 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,500 {\an7}in search of answers. 59 00:03:53,533 --> 00:03:57,633 {\an7}To find the origin of our planet, our galaxy, 60 00:03:57,666 --> 00:04:00,366 {\an7}and ultimately, the universe. 61 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:06,900 {\an8}♪ ♪ 62 00:04:06,933 --> 00:04:10,533 {\an8}WILLIAM ANDERS: For all the people back on Earth, 63 00:04:10,566 --> 00:04:13,533 {\an7}the crew of Apollo 8 has a message 64 00:04:13,566 --> 00:04:16,700 {\an7}that we would like to send to you. 65 00:04:17,933 --> 00:04:21,833 {\an1}"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. 66 00:04:23,533 --> 00:04:27,200 {\an1}"And the earth was without form and void. 67 00:04:27,233 --> 00:04:32,333 {\an1}"And darkness was upon the face of the deep. 68 00:04:32,366 --> 00:04:34,933 "And God said, 69 00:04:34,966 --> 00:04:38,300 {\an1}"'Let there be light.' 70 00:04:38,333 --> 00:04:41,933 {\an1}And there was light." 71 00:04:41,966 --> 00:04:45,133 OLUSEYI: The pace of change of technological advancement 72 00:04:45,166 --> 00:04:47,600 {\an7}has gone faster and faster and faster. 73 00:04:47,633 --> 00:04:50,200 {\an7}The 20th century just took things to the next level. 74 00:04:50,233 --> 00:04:54,700 {\an8}♪ ♪ 75 00:04:54,733 --> 00:04:58,100 NARRATOR: The Apollo missions were our first step 76 00:04:58,133 --> 00:05:00,800 {\an1}beyond our home planet. 77 00:05:00,833 --> 00:05:04,900 And in a way, a step backwards in cosmic time. 78 00:05:04,933 --> 00:05:09,166 {\an8}♪ ♪ 79 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,600 It was during the third moon landing 80 00:05:11,633 --> 00:05:12,933 {\an1}that clues to the origin 81 00:05:12,966 --> 00:05:16,766 {\an1}of not only the moon, but the Earth, as well, 82 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,133 were discovered. 83 00:05:20,166 --> 00:05:23,733 ♪ ♪ 84 00:05:23,766 --> 00:05:27,766 {\an1}Nearly 100 pounds of rock samples were collected 85 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,333 from across the Fra Mauro landing site 86 00:05:31,366 --> 00:05:37,000 {\an1}and returned to Earth. 87 00:05:37,033 --> 00:05:39,033 ♪ ♪ 88 00:05:39,066 --> 00:05:42,100 {\an1}After decades of study, 89 00:05:42,133 --> 00:05:45,566 {\an1}scientists were able to date these rocks 90 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,333 and rewind time to a violent event 91 00:05:50,366 --> 00:05:53,533 {\an1}that forged not only our moon, 92 00:05:53,566 --> 00:05:55,966 {\an1}but Earth as we know it. 93 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,500 ♪ ♪ 94 00:06:03,533 --> 00:06:07,333 {\an1}In a quiet corner of the Milky Way, 95 00:06:07,366 --> 00:06:09,433 {\an1}a new star shines out 96 00:06:09,466 --> 00:06:12,766 {\an1}over a plain of debris. 97 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:15,233 {\an1}Over millions of years, 98 00:06:15,266 --> 00:06:20,500 rocks collide and clump together, 99 00:06:20,533 --> 00:06:24,766 {\an1}building a system of planets. 100 00:06:26,666 --> 00:06:29,400 {\an1}Among them, the young Earth, 101 00:06:29,433 --> 00:06:33,566 a hellish world. 102 00:06:34,833 --> 00:06:38,633 {\an1}Not yet the planet we know today. 103 00:06:39,966 --> 00:06:43,000 {\an1}One more collision will shape it. 104 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,100 {\an1}A collision on a colossal scale. 105 00:06:49,133 --> 00:06:55,300 ♪ ♪ 106 00:06:55,333 --> 00:07:00,566 {\an1}There is another world born nearby the fledgling Earth: 107 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,866 Theia. 108 00:07:02,900 --> 00:07:04,966 {\an1}And the Apollo moon rocks 109 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,133 {\an1}have helped us pinpoint the moment 110 00:07:07,166 --> 00:07:11,266 {\an1}when these two young worlds met. 111 00:07:14,733 --> 00:07:21,566 {\an1}Theia, roughly the size of Mars, collides with Earth, 112 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:27,500 {\an1}shearing off enough material to eventually form the moon. 113 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:33,333 {\an1}And marking the final stage of our planet's creation. 114 00:07:36,900 --> 00:07:40,033 {\an1}But understanding Earth's origin 115 00:07:40,066 --> 00:07:43,633 {\an1}is just the first step in our scientific quest 116 00:07:43,666 --> 00:07:46,966 {\an1}to find the origin of the universe. 117 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,466 CHARLOTTE MASON: We can start to understand 118 00:07:51,500 --> 00:07:54,000 {\an7}how everything in our universe evolved, 119 00:07:54,033 --> 00:07:55,833 {\an7}and maybe start to answer that question 120 00:07:55,866 --> 00:07:57,300 {\an7}about, how did we get here? 121 00:07:59,466 --> 00:08:02,466 NARRATOR: Since the time of the Apollo missions, 122 00:08:02,500 --> 00:08:05,300 {\an7}our exploration of the solar system 123 00:08:05,333 --> 00:08:09,366 {\an7}has continued to deepen our knowledge. 124 00:08:11,900 --> 00:08:16,433 {\an7}With each mission, we learn more about how the planets 125 00:08:16,466 --> 00:08:20,866 {\an7}and the sun itself were formed 126 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:25,433 {\an7}and evolved over billions of years. 127 00:08:25,466 --> 00:08:30,066 {\an8}♪ ♪ 128 00:08:36,633 --> 00:08:41,666 {\an7}But the solar system, the domain of the sun, 129 00:08:41,700 --> 00:08:43,366 {\an7}is only a small part 130 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:48,000 {\an1}of a far larger region of the universe: 131 00:08:48,033 --> 00:08:50,066 our galaxy, 132 00:08:50,100 --> 00:08:53,666 the Milky Way. 133 00:08:58,500 --> 00:09:02,566 ♪ ♪ 134 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,133 The Milky Way is unimaginably vast. 135 00:09:07,566 --> 00:09:12,400 {\an1}So big that it would take us tens of thousands of years 136 00:09:12,433 --> 00:09:15,833 {\an1}to travel to even the nearest stars. 137 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,533 OLUSEYI: There's this great quote by Arthur C. Clarke that goes, 138 00:09:26,566 --> 00:09:28,933 {\an1}"The only way to find the limits of the possible 139 00:09:28,966 --> 00:09:32,133 {\an1}is to go beyond them into the impossible." 140 00:09:32,166 --> 00:09:35,666 CAROLE HASWELL: We're all explorers, and we're all curious. 141 00:09:35,700 --> 00:09:39,133 {\an7}And astronomy is, is sort of the ultimate frontier, really. 142 00:09:39,166 --> 00:09:43,533 NARRATOR: A frontier that's being constantly pushed 143 00:09:43,566 --> 00:09:46,666 {\an1}by new technology. 144 00:09:46,700 --> 00:09:48,733 ARCAND: We have an amazing suite 145 00:09:48,766 --> 00:09:53,133 {\an1}of space-based observatories at our disposal. 146 00:09:53,166 --> 00:09:56,133 NARRATOR: And one of these observatories is shedding light 147 00:09:56,166 --> 00:10:00,633 {\an1}on the origin of planets beyond our solar system, 148 00:10:00,666 --> 00:10:07,333 {\an1}taking us one step closer to the beginning of the entire cosmos. 149 00:10:15,300 --> 00:10:18,566 {\an1}Kepler is a planet hunter. 150 00:10:20,566 --> 00:10:24,666 {\an1}Not able to physically venture to the stars, 151 00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:28,900 {\an1}it stares at thousands of them in a small patch of sky 152 00:10:28,933 --> 00:10:30,566 {\an1}for more than nine years. 153 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:32,766 ♪ ♪ 154 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:37,133 {\an1}Revealing something remarkable: 155 00:10:37,166 --> 00:10:42,800 {\an1}almost every star has at least one planet in orbit. 156 00:10:42,833 --> 00:10:47,633 {\an1}Meaning there are even more planets than stars 157 00:10:47,666 --> 00:10:51,733 {\an1}in our home galaxy, and the variety 158 00:10:51,766 --> 00:10:55,866 is breathtaking. 159 00:10:55,900 --> 00:10:59,600 KAISER: On the one hand, some things look remarkably familiar. 160 00:10:59,633 --> 00:11:01,733 {\an7}And then other things that look nothing at all 161 00:11:01,766 --> 00:11:05,166 {\an7}like what we've encountered here close to home. 162 00:11:06,733 --> 00:11:09,800 {\an1}These planets outside of our solar system, 163 00:11:09,833 --> 00:11:13,000 {\an1}they are zombie worlds. 164 00:11:13,033 --> 00:11:15,933 And lava worlds. 165 00:11:17,666 --> 00:11:20,533 Ice worlds. 166 00:11:22,933 --> 00:11:25,000 Worlds where it rains glass sideways. 167 00:11:25,033 --> 00:11:29,500 ♪ ♪ 168 00:11:29,533 --> 00:11:35,100 NARRATOR: And Kepler even finds one planetary system 169 00:11:35,133 --> 00:11:38,833 {\an1}that takes us back towards our galaxy's origin. 170 00:11:38,866 --> 00:11:42,666 ♪ ♪ 171 00:11:54,533 --> 00:12:00,700 {\an1}Kepler-444 is a system home to five rocky worlds 172 00:12:00,733 --> 00:12:04,233 {\an1}117 light-years from Earth. 173 00:12:04,266 --> 00:12:07,166 ♪ ♪ 174 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,100 {\an1}By analyzing the light from this star, 175 00:12:10,133 --> 00:12:13,900 {\an1}the Kepler space telescope has helped us 176 00:12:13,933 --> 00:12:15,800 {\an1}to estimate the system's age: 177 00:12:15,833 --> 00:12:21,000 {\an7}more than twice as old as the sun. 178 00:12:27,666 --> 00:12:30,933 {\an1}So planets existed in our galaxy 179 00:12:30,966 --> 00:12:34,633 {\an1}long before the sun and Earth were formed. 180 00:12:34,666 --> 00:12:41,233 {\an1}And the Milky Way must be more than 11 billion years old. 181 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:48,166 {\an1}The precise age of our galaxy remains a mystery. 182 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,633 {\an1}But luckily, we have a tool 183 00:12:50,666 --> 00:12:54,266 {\an1}to help us understand the beginning of all galaxies. 184 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:58,566 Light. 185 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,366 ♪ ♪ 186 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,300 {\an1}URMILA CHADAYAMURRI: Light is a very powerful tool 187 00:13:04,333 --> 00:13:08,300 {\an7}precisely because it doesn't travel infinitely fast. 188 00:13:08,333 --> 00:13:12,733 {\an1}That means that if it has to come to us 189 00:13:12,766 --> 00:13:16,000 {\an1}from somewhere very far away, it needs some time. 190 00:13:16,033 --> 00:13:21,733 NARRATOR: Light travels at 186,000 miles a second, 191 00:13:21,766 --> 00:13:24,833 {\an1}slow on a cosmic scale. 192 00:13:24,866 --> 00:13:28,966 {\an1}It takes just over eight minutes to reach us from the sun, 193 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:33,200 {\an1}and more than four years from our next nearest star. 194 00:13:33,233 --> 00:13:35,500 {\an7}When we look at objects that are 195 00:13:35,533 --> 00:13:37,166 {\an7}a million or a billion light-years away, 196 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,200 {\an1}then we're looking at them as they were 197 00:13:40,233 --> 00:13:43,600 a million or a billion years ago. 198 00:13:43,633 --> 00:13:45,400 LARRY GLADNEY: Light to an astronomer 199 00:13:45,433 --> 00:13:47,733 {\an7}is like fossils to an archaeologist. 200 00:13:47,766 --> 00:13:51,000 {\an8}NARRATOR: By studying ancient light, 201 00:13:51,033 --> 00:13:54,900 {\an7}we can look back towards the origin of our galaxy, 202 00:13:54,933 --> 00:14:00,700 {\an7}and ultimately, the beginning of the universe itself. 203 00:14:02,133 --> 00:14:04,500 ♪ ♪ 204 00:14:04,533 --> 00:14:07,800 {\an1}And there is one telescope, more than any other, 205 00:14:07,833 --> 00:14:11,566 {\an1}that can help us step back through cosmic history. 206 00:14:13,100 --> 00:14:17,300 GRANT TREMBLAY: The Hubble Space Telescope is the first great observatory. 207 00:14:17,333 --> 00:14:21,100 {\an7}And I say this with an absolute straight face, totally serious: 208 00:14:21,133 --> 00:14:23,133 {\an7}it is one of the greatest scientific missions 209 00:14:23,166 --> 00:14:24,333 {\an7}in all of human history. 210 00:14:24,366 --> 00:14:27,200 NARRATOR: In the early '90s, it set 211 00:14:27,233 --> 00:14:32,000 {\an1}to become the first major optical telescope in space, 212 00:14:32,033 --> 00:14:34,966 {\an1}capable of seeing further out into our universe 213 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,900 {\an1}than ever before, and therefore, further back in time. 214 00:14:39,933 --> 00:14:41,433 KAISER: I actually got to see 215 00:14:41,466 --> 00:14:43,433 {\an1}the telescope before it was launched into space. 216 00:14:43,466 --> 00:14:45,166 {\an1}I was very lucky. 217 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,633 {\an1}And to think that that same object 218 00:14:47,666 --> 00:14:49,300 {\an1}that I was almost in the same room with 219 00:14:49,333 --> 00:14:51,300 {\an1}would be hoisted into space 220 00:14:51,333 --> 00:14:54,033 {\an1}and would be orbiting our, our little, lonesome planet, 221 00:14:54,066 --> 00:14:58,600 {\an7}I just find that extraordinary. 222 00:14:58,633 --> 00:15:01,600 {\an7}MAN (over radio): Go ahead, Charlie. 223 00:15:01,633 --> 00:15:03,100 {\an7}MAN (over radio): Okay, we have a go for release, 224 00:15:03,133 --> 00:15:04,666 {\an7}and we're gonna be a minute late. 225 00:15:04,700 --> 00:15:05,866 Okay, Charlie. 226 00:15:05,900 --> 00:15:09,700 ♪ ♪ 227 00:15:13,933 --> 00:15:15,033 {\an1}MAN (over radio): Houston, Discovery. 228 00:15:15,066 --> 00:15:17,900 {\an1}Residuals and ratios look good, 229 00:15:17,933 --> 00:15:21,366 {\an1}and we'd like to go to filter zinc. 230 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:23,033 {\an1}MAN (over radio): We concur, Charlie. 231 00:15:23,066 --> 00:15:27,533 NARRATOR: Hubble gathers energy from the sun 232 00:15:27,566 --> 00:15:30,600 {\an1}using two 25-foot solar panels 233 00:15:30,633 --> 00:15:34,666 to power sensors that analyze starlight. 234 00:15:34,700 --> 00:15:36,866 ARCAND: All of this specialized equipment 235 00:15:36,900 --> 00:15:40,300 {\an1}just gives us this immense toolbox to be able to 236 00:15:40,333 --> 00:15:42,166 {\an7}find answers that I don't think 237 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,600 {\an7}people ever really expected we would find. 238 00:15:44,633 --> 00:15:49,900 ♪ ♪ 239 00:15:51,333 --> 00:15:56,266 NARRATOR: Orbiting 340 miles above Earth's surface, 240 00:15:56,300 --> 00:15:59,866 {\an1}Hubble has a clear advantage over ground-based telescopes. 241 00:15:59,900 --> 00:16:04,966 MASON: The Earth's atmosphere kind of blurs out lots of our images. 242 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,066 {\an7}And so by putting the telescope in space, 243 00:16:07,100 --> 00:16:09,500 {\an7}we get these precise, crystal-clear 244 00:16:09,533 --> 00:16:11,700 {\an1}images of our universe. 245 00:16:11,733 --> 00:16:14,900 ♪ ♪ 246 00:16:14,933 --> 00:16:18,466 NARRATOR: Hubble has revealed our cosmic neighborhood 247 00:16:18,500 --> 00:16:21,133 {\an1}like we've never seen it before. 248 00:16:21,166 --> 00:16:23,933 NIAL TANVIR: I was able to look at those images. 249 00:16:23,966 --> 00:16:25,966 {\an7}And immediately, I got a very strong sense 250 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,200 {\an7}that this was exactly what we needed. 251 00:16:28,233 --> 00:16:30,800 {\an8}♪ ♪ 252 00:16:30,833 --> 00:16:37,633 {\an8}NARRATOR: Hubble has imaged great nebulae, huge clouds of gas and dust-- 253 00:16:37,666 --> 00:16:40,166 {\an7}stars at the moment of their birth. 254 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,766 {\an8}CHADAYAMURRI: You can think of them as nurseries for stars. 255 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:45,800 {\an7}They're the places where you have a lot of baby stars 256 00:16:45,833 --> 00:16:49,400 {\an7}all hanging out together. 257 00:16:49,433 --> 00:16:51,000 {\an8}OLUSEYI: You see the Ring Nebula, 258 00:16:51,033 --> 00:16:52,333 {\an7}it just blows your mind away, right? 259 00:16:52,366 --> 00:16:54,233 {\an8}It's just, like, you think, 260 00:16:54,266 --> 00:16:56,966 {\an1}"Did someone draw a cartoon into the lens?" 261 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,233 It's so amazing. 262 00:17:00,266 --> 00:17:02,233 CHADAYAMURRI: They're these stunning images, 263 00:17:02,266 --> 00:17:03,833 {\an1}and they really give us a sense of 264 00:17:03,866 --> 00:17:06,366 how stars form. 265 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,866 ♪ ♪ 266 00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:10,933 NARRATOR: But Hubble was built to give us 267 00:17:10,966 --> 00:17:14,000 {\an1}a much larger view of the universe, 268 00:17:14,033 --> 00:17:17,166 {\an1}and take us back in time. 269 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,300 {\an1}PRIYAMVADA NATARAJAN: Our understanding of the universe 270 00:17:21,333 --> 00:17:25,300 {\an7}is limited by how far out we can see, 271 00:17:25,333 --> 00:17:29,766 {\an1}and that is the size of the universe for us. 272 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,166 PEIRIS: It's billions and billions billions of light-years 273 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,300 {\an7}in size-- it's huge. 274 00:17:34,333 --> 00:17:37,433 ARCAND: We're not a drop in the bucket. 275 00:17:37,466 --> 00:17:39,900 {\an1}We're not a drop in the ocean. 276 00:17:39,933 --> 00:17:42,866 {\an1}We are a single atom in a drop 277 00:17:42,900 --> 00:17:46,366 in trillions upon trillions of oceans. 278 00:17:49,533 --> 00:17:53,900 NARRATOR: Oceans filled with countless faraway wonders 279 00:17:53,933 --> 00:17:57,500 {\an1}that Hubble shows us as if they're close up, 280 00:17:57,533 --> 00:18:01,966 {\an1}taking us ever deeper into the cosmos, 281 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,833 {\an1}and further back in time. 282 00:18:08,566 --> 00:18:13,233 {\an8}Andromeda, our nearest large galaxy. 283 00:18:15,266 --> 00:18:16,866 {\an7}We see it as it was 284 00:18:16,900 --> 00:18:20,100 {\an7}two-and-a-half million years ago. 285 00:18:20,133 --> 00:18:22,400 {\an8}♪ ♪ 286 00:18:22,433 --> 00:18:25,433 {\an1}And Hubble has seen further still, 287 00:18:25,466 --> 00:18:30,000 {\an1}imaging what looks like a cosmic rose: 288 00:18:30,033 --> 00:18:33,800 {\an1}two colliding galaxies. 289 00:18:33,833 --> 00:18:38,333 {\an7}The larger galaxy, UGC 1810, 290 00:18:38,366 --> 00:18:42,966 {\an7}is about five times more massive than its companion. 291 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:49,833 {\an7}We see them as they were 300 million years ago. 292 00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:03,500 {\an1}But to wind back the clock to the origin of all the galaxies, 293 00:19:03,533 --> 00:19:06,333 {\an1}Hubble needs to look farther into space 294 00:19:06,366 --> 00:19:08,733 {\an1}than it ever has before. 295 00:19:08,766 --> 00:19:11,600 CHADAYAMURRI: One of the temptations when you're an astronomer 296 00:19:11,633 --> 00:19:15,600 {\an1}is to only look at the obvious things. 297 00:19:15,633 --> 00:19:19,466 {\an1}But that's just a tiny fraction of everything in the universe. 298 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:23,866 NARRATOR: Hubble's most surprising discovery came 299 00:19:23,900 --> 00:19:27,333 {\an1}when it looked away from the light. 300 00:19:27,366 --> 00:19:30,533 {\an1}What we did is, we turned Hubble toward a blank part of the sky, 301 00:19:30,566 --> 00:19:32,633 {\an1}and Hubble stared at it. 302 00:19:32,666 --> 00:19:34,966 ♪ ♪ 303 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,300 NARRATOR: Peering into the darkness for four months, 304 00:19:39,333 --> 00:19:43,233 {\an1}Hubble reveals the blackest patch of space 305 00:19:43,266 --> 00:19:46,500 {\an1}is not quite so empty. 306 00:19:46,533 --> 00:19:52,566 {\an8}♪ ♪ 307 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,433 CHADAYAMURRI: And what we ended up finding was 308 00:19:54,466 --> 00:19:56,633 {\an1}galaxies upon galaxies, 309 00:19:56,666 --> 00:20:00,000 {\an1}going back billions and billions of years-- 310 00:20:00,033 --> 00:20:04,300 {\an1}much further back in time than we would have guessed. 311 00:20:04,333 --> 00:20:08,733 NARRATOR: It glimpses primitive and unusual galaxies, 312 00:20:08,766 --> 00:20:11,966 unlike anything in our current universe. 313 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:18,400 {\an8}♪ ♪ 314 00:20:18,433 --> 00:20:21,300 {\an1}They are celestial fossils 315 00:20:21,333 --> 00:20:25,866 {\an1}that light the way to the primordial past, 316 00:20:25,900 --> 00:20:31,100 {\an1}until eventually, right on the limit of what it can see... 317 00:20:34,566 --> 00:20:38,166 {\an1}...potentially one of the first galaxies to form 318 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,266 in the universe. 319 00:20:41,866 --> 00:20:44,433 So distant 320 00:20:44,466 --> 00:20:47,933 {\an1}that when we gaze upon it, 321 00:20:47,966 --> 00:20:53,433 {\an1}we are seeing 13.4 billion years into the past. 322 00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:09,100 TANA JOSEPH: So this awesome and oddly shaped galaxy is called GN-z11. 323 00:21:09,133 --> 00:21:13,066 {\an7}It's the oldest and furthest galaxy that Hubble can see. 324 00:21:13,100 --> 00:21:17,100 {\an7}It is so old and so far away that by the time 325 00:21:17,133 --> 00:21:19,666 {\an7}the Earth started to form 4.6 billion years ago, 326 00:21:19,700 --> 00:21:22,266 {\an1}the light from it had been traveling 327 00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:25,133 {\an1}for almost nine billion years. 328 00:21:25,166 --> 00:21:26,733 ♪ ♪ 329 00:21:26,766 --> 00:21:30,566 So really, this is light from right near 330 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,700 {\an1}the beginning of our universe. 331 00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:47,000 {\an8}NARRATOR: GN-z11 is one of the very first galaxies, 332 00:21:47,033 --> 00:21:50,433 {\an1}forming at a time when the universe itself 333 00:21:50,466 --> 00:21:53,733 {\an1}is still taking shape, 334 00:21:53,766 --> 00:21:58,600 {\an1}just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. 335 00:22:01,233 --> 00:22:05,400 {\an1}It's a strange galaxy by today's standards. 336 00:22:12,700 --> 00:22:16,133 {\an1}Tiny in comparison to the Milky Way. 337 00:22:16,166 --> 00:22:21,900 ♪ ♪ 338 00:22:21,933 --> 00:22:27,833 {\an1}But filled with enormous, violent stars. 339 00:22:31,700 --> 00:22:33,700 MASON: GN-z11 is this crazy galaxy, 340 00:22:33,733 --> 00:22:35,166 because it's super-super-bright. 341 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,966 {\an1}Like, we don't expect it to exist in the early universe. 342 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:40,433 ♪ ♪ 343 00:22:40,466 --> 00:22:43,166 {\an1}This huge kind of messy monster. 344 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:44,966 And the stars 345 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,900 {\an1}are very young stars-- they've only just formed. 346 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,000 ANDREW PONTZEN: These stars probably aren't the very first 347 00:22:52,033 --> 00:22:54,433 {\an1}to form in the universe. 348 00:22:54,466 --> 00:22:55,533 {\an7}But they're close. 349 00:22:55,566 --> 00:22:58,133 ♪ ♪ 350 00:22:58,166 --> 00:22:59,833 NARRATOR: What's most remarkable 351 00:22:59,866 --> 00:23:02,966 {\an1}is that not only can we see this galaxy, 352 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,800 {\an1}we're starting to build up a picture 353 00:23:05,833 --> 00:23:08,600 {\an1}of what it may be like inside. 354 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,766 NATARAJAN: What is kind of exciting prospect is that, 355 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:16,433 {\an1}you could already have 356 00:23:16,466 --> 00:23:19,633 proto-planets, if not planets, forming 357 00:23:19,666 --> 00:23:22,400 {\an1}around those first sets of stars. 358 00:23:22,433 --> 00:23:26,533 NARRATOR: Delicate objects struggling in the maelstrom 359 00:23:26,566 --> 00:23:30,033 created by these tempestuous stars. 360 00:23:33,900 --> 00:23:40,066 {\an1}These may be some of the first planets in the universe. 361 00:23:40,100 --> 00:23:43,133 TREMBLAY: Somewhere, there was a first planet 362 00:23:43,166 --> 00:23:45,033 {\an1}that formed in the entire universe. 363 00:23:45,066 --> 00:23:47,333 {\an7}We'll never know about it. 364 00:23:47,366 --> 00:23:48,400 {\an7}We'll never know when it formed 365 00:23:48,433 --> 00:23:50,866 {\an7}or where it formed or what its fate was. 366 00:23:50,900 --> 00:23:52,766 {\an7}But it formed somewhere. 367 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,433 ♪ ♪ 368 00:23:55,466 --> 00:23:59,033 NARRATOR: These are strange, primordial worlds. 369 00:24:01,166 --> 00:24:06,266 {\an1}But their birth is a key part of the universe's development. 370 00:24:06,300 --> 00:24:11,066 ♪ ♪ 371 00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:16,533 {\an1}The beginning of a relationship between stars and planets. 372 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,966 {\an1}A relationship that will, billions of years later, 373 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,400 {\an1}on one faraway world... 374 00:24:30,933 --> 00:24:36,066 {\an1}...lead to life: you and me. 375 00:24:38,433 --> 00:24:40,366 But long before, 376 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,933 {\an1}before even the first stars and galaxies existed, 377 00:24:44,966 --> 00:24:48,100 the universe was a very different, 378 00:24:48,133 --> 00:24:51,100 {\an1}very inhospitable place. 379 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:55,300 TREMBLAY: And so the story of the 380 00:24:55,333 --> 00:24:57,900 {\an1}very earliest days of the universe 381 00:24:57,933 --> 00:24:59,833 are in many ways a story of darkness. 382 00:25:02,433 --> 00:25:07,366 ♪ ♪ 383 00:25:13,100 --> 00:25:18,433 NARRATOR: This is a time astronomers call the Cosmic Dark Ages. 384 00:25:20,566 --> 00:25:23,566 {\an1}We can't see galaxies and stars 385 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,833 {\an1}because they have not yet been born. 386 00:25:27,866 --> 00:25:31,700 {\an1}It's a period that optical telescopes like Hubble 387 00:25:31,733 --> 00:25:37,066 {\an1}will simply never be able to explore. 388 00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:39,566 {\an7}When we look into the Cosmic Dark Ages, 389 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,466 {\an7}we don't see light from any stars at all. 390 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,033 {\an8}NARRATOR: Long before our planet existed, 391 00:25:49,066 --> 00:25:51,966 {\an7}before even the first stars, 392 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:56,833 {\an7}just endless gloom. 393 00:25:56,866 --> 00:25:58,700 {\an7}With no starlight to follow, 394 00:25:58,733 --> 00:26:02,500 {\an7}it may seem as if our quest to find 395 00:26:02,533 --> 00:26:08,666 {\an7}the beginning of the universe has reached its end. 396 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,400 {\an1}But perhaps counterintuitively, 397 00:26:20,433 --> 00:26:25,533 {\an1}the younger starlight we can see offers clues 398 00:26:25,566 --> 00:26:30,366 {\an1}to help us understand the origin of the universe. 399 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,566 {\an1}But not just any starlight. 400 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,000 {\an1}The light from one particular 401 00:26:36,033 --> 00:26:40,366 {\an1}type of star can tell us how our universe grew to be 402 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,866 {\an1}the way it is today. 403 00:26:42,900 --> 00:26:45,233 ♪ ♪ 404 00:26:52,666 --> 00:26:58,100 {\an1}These stars are called white dwarfs. 405 00:26:58,133 --> 00:27:02,033 {\an1}They are the fading remains of stars that long ago 406 00:27:02,066 --> 00:27:07,066 {\an1}burned with nuclear fusion. 407 00:27:07,100 --> 00:27:12,033 KIRSTEN HALL: So once a star like the sun runs out of material to burn, 408 00:27:12,066 --> 00:27:16,633 {\an7}it will collapse in on itself and expel material, 409 00:27:16,666 --> 00:27:19,000 {\an7}and what's left behind is a white dwarf. 410 00:27:19,033 --> 00:27:22,333 ♪ ♪ 411 00:27:22,366 --> 00:27:26,500 NARRATOR: They are dense, planet-sized bodies, 412 00:27:26,533 --> 00:27:30,766 {\an1}usually composed of oxygen and carbon. 413 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:40,066 {\an1}Making white dwarves, in effect, stellar diamonds. 414 00:27:45,833 --> 00:27:47,066 TREMBLAY: So these white dwarfs, 415 00:27:47,100 --> 00:27:48,400 {\an1}these stellar corpses, 416 00:27:48,433 --> 00:27:50,433 {\an1}are incredibly exotic objects. 417 00:27:51,933 --> 00:27:58,500 NARRATOR: A teaspoon of this material would weigh more than five tons. 418 00:27:58,533 --> 00:28:02,000 MACK: It's one of the densest objects in the universe. 419 00:28:02,033 --> 00:28:04,166 {\an7}It's just this very small, very hot object 420 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,366 {\an7}that's about the size of the Earth 421 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,433 {\an7}with about the mass of the sun. 422 00:28:09,466 --> 00:28:11,600 ♪ ♪ 423 00:28:11,633 --> 00:28:16,933 NARRATOR: How is it that these strange stars can tell us anything 424 00:28:16,966 --> 00:28:19,400 {\an1}about a time before stars existed, 425 00:28:19,433 --> 00:28:25,500 {\an1}and even give us clues about the moment the universe began? 426 00:28:28,533 --> 00:28:32,266 {\an1}White dwarfs are critically balanced, 427 00:28:32,300 --> 00:28:36,533 {\an1}resisting the relentless inward pull of gravity. 428 00:28:36,566 --> 00:28:40,400 But only barely. 429 00:28:40,433 --> 00:28:44,166 {\an1}They're teetering on the edge of destruction. 430 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,566 {\an1}If their mass increases above a critical limit, 431 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,000 {\an1}then gravity takes over. 432 00:28:51,033 --> 00:28:55,300 ♪ ♪ 433 00:28:59,366 --> 00:29:03,500 ♪ ♪ 434 00:29:03,533 --> 00:29:08,266 {\an1}And in 2018, Hubble sees what happens next. 435 00:29:11,533 --> 00:29:17,500 {\an1}The telescope focuses on a galaxy far, far away... 436 00:29:21,033 --> 00:29:25,266 ...NGC 2525... 437 00:29:25,300 --> 00:29:31,500 ♪ ♪ 438 00:29:31,533 --> 00:29:35,666 {\an1}...hunting for a distant white dwarf at the end 439 00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:40,333 {\an1}of its extraordinary life. 440 00:29:40,366 --> 00:29:45,900 ♪ ♪ 441 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:53,166 {\an1}For millions of years, the white dwarf remains hidden, 442 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,900 {\an1}locked in an orbit around a much bigger star. 443 00:30:00,366 --> 00:30:04,866 A red giant. 444 00:30:04,900 --> 00:30:10,066 ♪ ♪ 445 00:30:12,566 --> 00:30:16,533 {\an1}As they circle each other, the white dwarf's gravity 446 00:30:16,566 --> 00:30:20,933 {\an1}pulls in gas and plasma from the red giant. 447 00:30:28,733 --> 00:30:31,800 {\an1}The mass of the white dwarf increases... 448 00:30:31,833 --> 00:30:37,000 ♪ ♪ 449 00:30:39,866 --> 00:30:43,366 {\an1}...until it approaches a critical limit, 450 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,300 {\an1}known as the Chandrasekhar mass... 451 00:30:50,633 --> 00:30:52,700 {\an1}...and surpasses it... 452 00:30:52,733 --> 00:30:56,100 ♪ ♪ 453 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:09,000 {\an1}...triggering a colossal thermonuclear reaction. 454 00:31:18,766 --> 00:31:21,733 {\an1}The white dwarf detonates 455 00:31:21,766 --> 00:31:26,666 {\an1}in what scientists call a type Ia supernova. 456 00:31:36,333 --> 00:31:39,600 TREMBLAY: This was an immensely energetic event in the universe, 457 00:31:39,633 --> 00:31:42,666 {\an1}with the brightness of five billion of our suns. 458 00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:45,866 {\an7}It was so luminous that Hubble could take a time-lapse movie 459 00:31:45,900 --> 00:31:46,966 {\an7}of it as it evolved. 460 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,666 {\an8}♪ ♪ 461 00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:52,966 {\an8}NARRATOR: It's the brightness of this event 462 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,233 {\an1}that allowed it to be seen by Hubble. 463 00:31:58,300 --> 00:32:02,500 {\an1}And why catching a type Ia supernova in the act 464 00:32:02,533 --> 00:32:05,666 {\an1}is so exciting for scientists. 465 00:32:05,700 --> 00:32:09,566 {\an1}This bright light has quite a story to tell. 466 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:10,833 GLADNEY: Everything that's happened 467 00:32:10,866 --> 00:32:14,133 {\an7}to that light on the way from its source to us, 468 00:32:14,166 --> 00:32:16,400 {\an7}everything it's encountered, including time, 469 00:32:16,433 --> 00:32:21,800 has affected what we actually see. 470 00:32:21,833 --> 00:32:25,266 NARRATOR: The light from type Ia supernovae give us 471 00:32:25,300 --> 00:32:29,066 {\an1}a tantalizing clue 472 00:32:29,100 --> 00:32:32,433 {\an1}to how our universe evolved. 473 00:32:32,466 --> 00:32:38,633 ♪ ♪ 474 00:32:38,666 --> 00:32:42,800 {\an1}And it's by charting the evolution of the universe... 475 00:32:44,533 --> 00:32:49,566 {\an1}...that we can build a road map back to its beginning. 476 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,666 CHRIS DONE: So, type Ia supernovae, 477 00:32:53,700 --> 00:32:55,766 {\an1}it's like the universe's free gift to us. 478 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,266 {\an1}Because they all explode in the same way, 479 00:32:58,300 --> 00:33:00,900 {\an1}they reach pretty much the same brightness. 480 00:33:00,933 --> 00:33:04,666 {\an7}So if you see one dimmer than the other, it means 481 00:33:04,700 --> 00:33:09,200 {\an1}it's further away. 482 00:33:09,233 --> 00:33:11,266 {\an1}And that allows us to measure distance 483 00:33:11,300 --> 00:33:14,900 {\an1}to the galaxy that's hosting this supernovae explosion. 484 00:33:14,933 --> 00:33:16,600 ♪ ♪ 485 00:33:16,633 --> 00:33:22,300 NARRATOR: We have seen type Ia supernovae across the entire universe. 486 00:33:22,333 --> 00:33:28,100 {\an1}We can measure the distance to their home galaxies. 487 00:33:29,700 --> 00:33:36,166 {\an1}And that can tell us how the universe is changing over time. 488 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,433 ♪ ♪ 489 00:33:43,166 --> 00:33:45,733 DONE: So, when we look at distant supernovae, 490 00:33:45,766 --> 00:33:47,900 {\an1}we see something really interesting. 491 00:33:47,933 --> 00:33:49,566 {\an1}Their light's not just dimmer, 492 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:52,066 it's redder. 493 00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:57,266 {\an1}And the further away they are, the redder their light is. 494 00:33:57,300 --> 00:34:00,766 {\an1}But as the light travels from this distant galaxy to us, 495 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:05,100 {\an1}space itself is stretching, and so the light gets stretched 496 00:34:05,133 --> 00:34:07,400 {\an1}along the way-- it gets redder. 497 00:34:08,533 --> 00:34:12,200 {\an1}And this is called redshift. 498 00:34:12,233 --> 00:34:14,866 NARRATOR: We see the effect of redshift in the light 499 00:34:14,900 --> 00:34:17,600 {\an1}from every distant galaxy. 500 00:34:17,633 --> 00:34:23,033 {\an1}And that means space is stretching everywhere. 501 00:34:23,066 --> 00:34:26,000 DONE: And that means something truly amazing. 502 00:34:26,033 --> 00:34:28,633 {\an1}It means our universe is expanding. 503 00:34:28,666 --> 00:34:34,633 ♪ ♪ 504 00:34:34,666 --> 00:34:38,966 NARRATOR: By studying how galaxies themselves are redshifted, 505 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,733 {\an1}we have known for nearly a century that the universe 506 00:34:42,766 --> 00:34:44,933 is expanding. 507 00:34:44,966 --> 00:34:50,966 {\an1}But by using type Ia supernovae to study it in detail, 508 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,366 {\an1}we can accurately tell how fast our universe is growing. 509 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,100 {\an1}And what scientists find 510 00:34:58,133 --> 00:35:02,600 {\an1}is something completely unexpected. 511 00:35:02,633 --> 00:35:05,533 PONTZEN: Astronomers working with the Hubble Space Telescope 512 00:35:05,566 --> 00:35:09,333 {\an7}started to realize that the universe is not just expanding, 513 00:35:09,366 --> 00:35:13,066 {\an7}but it's actually expanding at an ever-increasing rate. 514 00:35:13,100 --> 00:35:15,566 {\an7}It's that accelerated or speeding-up stretching 515 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,766 {\an7}that really did catch our community by surprise. 516 00:35:19,866 --> 00:35:23,466 NARRATOR: We know the universe is expanding. 517 00:35:23,500 --> 00:35:27,366 {\an1}And thanks to Hubble, we have evidence that this expansion 518 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,800 {\an1}is accelerating over time. 519 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,300 TREMBLAY: So if you know the universe is expanding, 520 00:35:35,333 --> 00:35:37,233 you can just do a thought experiment, 521 00:35:37,266 --> 00:35:41,000 {\an1}and turn time backward, and know that the universe was smaller 522 00:35:41,033 --> 00:35:42,033 in the past. 523 00:35:42,066 --> 00:35:46,966 NARRATOR: We can wind back the clock 524 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:51,833 {\an1}through thousands of billions of yesterdays. 525 00:35:51,866 --> 00:35:56,400 {\an8}♪ ♪ 526 00:35:56,433 --> 00:36:00,833 {\an1}Back to a time before our Earth and sun. 527 00:36:03,866 --> 00:36:09,666 {\an8}♪ ♪ 528 00:36:12,266 --> 00:36:15,966 {\an8}To a time before the first galaxies. 529 00:36:20,133 --> 00:36:25,766 {\an7}And finally, we can cross the Cosmic Dark Ages 530 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:29,733 {\an7}to pinpoint the moment the universe began. 531 00:36:29,766 --> 00:36:32,700 ♪ ♪ 532 00:36:32,733 --> 00:36:38,400 {\an1}A moment we know happened 13.8 billion years ago. 533 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,466 {\an8}The Big Bang. 534 00:36:45,500 --> 00:36:50,666 ♪ ♪ 535 00:36:57,666 --> 00:37:04,233 {\an1}The moment when our universe burst into existence. 536 00:37:04,266 --> 00:37:08,466 {\an1}Yet, it wasn't anything like an explosion. 537 00:37:11,500 --> 00:37:14,100 NATARAJAN: This is the initial state of the universe, 538 00:37:14,133 --> 00:37:17,466 {\an7}which was very hot and very, very dense. 539 00:37:17,500 --> 00:37:21,133 ♪ ♪ 540 00:37:21,166 --> 00:37:23,566 CORA DVORKIN: Everything, the whole universe, 541 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,700 {\an7}was held together in a very tiny region of space. 542 00:37:27,733 --> 00:37:30,766 ♪ ♪ 543 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:33,100 OLUSEYI: So everywhere in the universe 544 00:37:33,133 --> 00:37:35,700 {\an7}is almost like being inside of a star. 545 00:37:35,733 --> 00:37:40,900 ♪ ♪ 546 00:37:40,933 --> 00:37:44,400 GLADNEY: All the matter that has ever been produced 547 00:37:44,433 --> 00:37:46,733 {\an1}came from that moment in time. 548 00:37:48,666 --> 00:37:52,400 NARRATOR: These conditions are unbelievably extreme, 549 00:37:52,433 --> 00:37:56,600 {\an1}and they no longer exist in today's universe. 550 00:37:56,633 --> 00:37:58,700 ♪ ♪ 551 00:37:58,733 --> 00:38:02,200 OLUSEYI: It almost seems miraculous, if not ridiculous, 552 00:38:02,233 --> 00:38:05,166 {\an1}that we could study the origin of the universe, right? 553 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,966 {\an1}People say to me all the time, "How could you know? 554 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,633 {\an1}No one was there." 555 00:38:12,666 --> 00:38:17,233 NARRATOR: For decades, the Big Bang has been science's best estimation 556 00:38:17,266 --> 00:38:20,433 {\an1}of how the universe began. 557 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,900 ♪ ♪ 558 00:38:26,933 --> 00:38:28,433 And in 2009, 559 00:38:28,466 --> 00:38:33,433 {\an1}a mission is launched to try to get a better understanding 560 00:38:33,466 --> 00:38:36,000 {\an1}of this time in our universe. 561 00:38:36,033 --> 00:38:39,533 ♪ ♪ 562 00:38:39,566 --> 00:38:42,100 {\an1}The European Space Agency's Planck telescope 563 00:38:42,133 --> 00:38:47,766 {\an1}is designed to look for the remains of the Big Bang. 564 00:38:48,933 --> 00:38:51,633 {\an1}Not starlight this time, 565 00:38:51,666 --> 00:38:54,133 {\an1}but a different type of light: 566 00:38:54,166 --> 00:38:59,900 {\an1}the afterglow of the Big Bang, 567 00:38:59,933 --> 00:39:04,500 {\an1}the most ancient light in the universe. 568 00:39:04,533 --> 00:39:06,333 OLUSEYI: If we do find it, 569 00:39:06,366 --> 00:39:09,000 {\an1}then that means we can measure the actual conditions 570 00:39:09,033 --> 00:39:13,166 {\an1}of the moment of creation. 571 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:15,000 {\an1}That's... (imitates explosion) ...nuts, right? 572 00:39:15,033 --> 00:39:16,800 ♪ ♪ 573 00:39:16,833 --> 00:39:19,966 NARRATOR: Planck will measure this ancient light 574 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,233 {\an1}with more precision than ever before. 575 00:39:28,300 --> 00:39:31,266 MAN: Sept, six, cinq, 576 00:39:31,300 --> 00:39:33,466 quatre, trois, 577 00:39:33,500 --> 00:39:35,833 deux, un, top. 578 00:39:35,866 --> 00:39:39,333 ♪ ♪ 579 00:39:43,933 --> 00:39:47,566 GIORGIO SAVINI: The moment of the launch is where everything is at risk. 580 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,366 {\an7}And not just the launch, there's a whole bunch of stages. 581 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,200 {\an8}PEIRIS: There was palpable excitement, 582 00:39:53,233 --> 00:39:57,900 {\an7}because we knew that this was an amazing shot we had 583 00:39:57,933 --> 00:40:00,500 {\an8}at understanding our universe better. 584 00:40:00,533 --> 00:40:05,700 ♪ ♪ 585 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:20,100 ♪ ♪ 586 00:40:20,133 --> 00:40:24,533 NARRATOR: It's a two-month journey for Planck to reach its destination. 587 00:40:26,633 --> 00:40:29,866 {\an1}Far beyond the orbit of our moon. 588 00:40:31,733 --> 00:40:36,900 ♪ ♪ 589 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,300 Once in place, Planck meticulously scans 590 00:40:42,333 --> 00:40:46,400 {\an1}the entire cosmos over and over again. 591 00:40:49,866 --> 00:40:53,600 PONTZEN: Anything that's hot tends to send out light. 592 00:40:53,633 --> 00:40:57,700 {\an7}So if the early universe was really dense and hot, 593 00:40:57,733 --> 00:41:01,700 {\an7}there should be a load of light left over from that time. 594 00:41:05,633 --> 00:41:09,233 NARRATOR: Using its five-foot mirror and two detector arrays 595 00:41:09,266 --> 00:41:12,766 {\an1}to capture light in the form of microwaves, 596 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:16,400 {\an1}Planck builds a map of the furthest reaches 597 00:41:16,433 --> 00:41:19,800 of the universe, 598 00:41:19,833 --> 00:41:25,000 {\an1}looking back to a time long before galaxies and stars. 599 00:41:25,033 --> 00:41:30,866 ♪ ♪ 600 00:41:30,900 --> 00:41:34,500 After four years of ceaseless scanning, 601 00:41:34,533 --> 00:41:38,500 {\an1}scientists are finally able to glimpse a snapshot 602 00:41:38,533 --> 00:41:42,466 {\an1}of the aftermath of the Big Bang 603 00:41:42,500 --> 00:41:45,966 {\an1}in spectacular detail. 604 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:50,900 ♪ ♪ 605 00:42:03,266 --> 00:42:06,066 JOSEPH: So this image that I'm looking at here 606 00:42:06,100 --> 00:42:09,966 {\an7}is one of the most exciting images in astronomy 607 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,766 {\an8}and cosmology, and it's an image of 608 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:16,433 {\an1}the cosmic microwave background radiation. 609 00:42:16,466 --> 00:42:17,933 {\an1}So basically, the Big Bang happened, 610 00:42:17,966 --> 00:42:18,966 {\an1}and this is the first light 611 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:22,800 {\an1}that we see that came from that event 612 00:42:22,833 --> 00:42:25,000 {\an1}that basically birthed our universe. 613 00:42:25,033 --> 00:42:27,600 ♪ ♪ 614 00:42:27,633 --> 00:42:32,400 NARRATOR: Thanks to Planck, scientists now have a detailed image 615 00:42:32,433 --> 00:42:36,266 {\an1}of the entire universe in its infancy. 616 00:42:36,300 --> 00:42:41,000 SAVINI: The best analogy of looking at the first light 617 00:42:41,033 --> 00:42:42,500 {\an1}of the instrument, 618 00:42:42,533 --> 00:42:48,233 {\an1}I think, is like seeing your child being born. 619 00:42:48,266 --> 00:42:51,933 MACK: We can see the light from the time when the whole universe 620 00:42:51,966 --> 00:42:53,400 was on fire, 621 00:42:53,433 --> 00:42:57,433 {\an7}when the universe was not empty space, 622 00:42:57,466 --> 00:43:01,233 {\an7}but a roiling, churning plasma. 623 00:43:01,266 --> 00:43:06,266 GLADNEY: We can look back to within 380,000 years after 624 00:43:06,300 --> 00:43:07,633 the Big Bang. 625 00:43:07,666 --> 00:43:10,433 {\an8}Before that, we can't see any light 626 00:43:10,466 --> 00:43:13,766 {\an7}because it was all absorbed by the universe itself. 627 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:17,000 ♪ ♪ 628 00:43:17,033 --> 00:43:21,133 NARRATOR: It may not be an image of the Big Bang itself, 629 00:43:21,166 --> 00:43:25,666 {\an1}but the cosmic microwave background is powerful evidence 630 00:43:25,700 --> 00:43:28,633 {\an1}that it did happen. 631 00:43:28,666 --> 00:43:31,766 {\an1}I couldn't wipe the smile from my face for about a week. 632 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:34,600 ♪ ♪ 633 00:43:34,633 --> 00:43:36,500 NARRATOR: Planck gives us details 634 00:43:36,533 --> 00:43:39,800 {\an1}of the earliest moments of the universe. 635 00:43:39,833 --> 00:43:46,466 {\an1}And at first glance, all it sees is an almost featureless glow. 636 00:43:46,500 --> 00:43:48,300 JOSEPH: So no galaxies, no stars, 637 00:43:48,333 --> 00:43:51,366 {\an1}just this glowing ball of plasma. 638 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,633 {\an1}And the radiation reflects that, actually, 639 00:43:53,666 --> 00:43:55,166 {\an1}because when we first looked at it, 640 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,000 {\an1}this radiation was incredibly smooth. 641 00:43:58,033 --> 00:44:02,866 NARRATOR: But Planck's highly sensitive detectors can pick up 642 00:44:02,900 --> 00:44:06,666 {\an1}even the slightest variations, 643 00:44:06,700 --> 00:44:11,766 {\an1}variations we see as different shades of blue, red, and yellow 644 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:16,466 {\an1}in this iconic false color image. 645 00:44:16,500 --> 00:44:19,433 GLADNEY: Before, all we could see is a uniform glow. 646 00:44:19,466 --> 00:44:22,600 {\an1}Now we can actually see small patches on the sky, 647 00:44:22,633 --> 00:44:24,200 {\an1}differences in temperature, 648 00:44:24,233 --> 00:44:27,166 {\an1}which are really incredibly tiny. 649 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:33,533 NARRATOR: The variations are less than 100,000th of a degree. 650 00:44:33,566 --> 00:44:37,500 {\an1}But they suggest that the primordial fireball 651 00:44:37,533 --> 00:44:40,100 {\an1}was not perfectly uniform, 652 00:44:40,133 --> 00:44:43,766 {\an1}and these variations must have come from somewhere, 653 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:48,233 {\an1}pointing to a profound truth: 654 00:44:48,266 --> 00:44:52,466 {\an1}the Big Bang was not actually the beginning. 655 00:44:55,066 --> 00:45:01,533 {\an8}♪ ♪ 656 00:45:01,566 --> 00:45:05,966 {\an7}The earliest moments of our universe are very strange. 657 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,066 {\an1}There is no matter. 658 00:45:10,733 --> 00:45:15,300 {\an1}All that exists is space-time and energy. 659 00:45:17,066 --> 00:45:21,533 {\an7}An ocean of energy almost uniform. 660 00:45:21,566 --> 00:45:26,833 {\an8}But not quite. 661 00:45:26,866 --> 00:45:29,266 {\an8}PEIRIS: It wouldn't have been like anything that 662 00:45:29,300 --> 00:45:32,233 {\an1}we can ever experience or imagine. 663 00:45:32,266 --> 00:45:34,900 {\an1}It was a field of energy 664 00:45:34,933 --> 00:45:39,833 {\an1}that had tiny, tiny quantum fluctuations 665 00:45:39,866 --> 00:45:43,266 {\an1}popping in and out of existence. 666 00:45:43,300 --> 00:45:47,400 NARRATOR: These fluctuations, ripples in the ocean of energy, 667 00:45:47,433 --> 00:45:50,533 {\an1}hold the key to our universe today. 668 00:45:50,566 --> 00:45:53,600 {\an1}They are the origin of everything. 669 00:45:53,633 --> 00:45:56,300 JOSEPH: If these fluctuations didn't exist, 670 00:45:56,333 --> 00:45:57,633 {\an1}there wouldn't be a single star, 671 00:45:57,666 --> 00:45:59,933 {\an1}there wouldn't be a single bit of cosmic dust 672 00:45:59,966 --> 00:46:01,133 {\an1}or anything like that. 673 00:46:01,166 --> 00:46:02,733 {\an1}And we certainly wouldn't be here. 674 00:46:02,766 --> 00:46:06,566 ♪ ♪ 675 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:11,066 NARRATOR: Imagine a speck in that ocean of energy. 676 00:46:11,100 --> 00:46:14,966 {\an1}This speck is about to grow so big it can accommodate 677 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:19,500 {\an1}every star and galaxy in our universe. 678 00:46:19,533 --> 00:46:22,766 {\an1}It just needs to grow fast. 679 00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:24,200 KAISER: That energy would drive 680 00:46:24,233 --> 00:46:27,033 {\an1}a remarkably rapid stretching of space. 681 00:46:27,066 --> 00:46:29,266 {\an1}An exponentially rapid stretching. 682 00:46:29,300 --> 00:46:31,533 {\an1}So space would not just get bigger, it would get bigger 683 00:46:31,566 --> 00:46:34,500 {\an1}faster, at a mind-boggling rate. 684 00:46:34,533 --> 00:46:37,533 NARRATOR: In the briefest of instants, 685 00:46:37,566 --> 00:46:42,400 {\an1}for less than a billion-billion- billionth of a second, 686 00:46:42,433 --> 00:46:47,300 {\an1}the speck expanded much faster than the speed of light, 687 00:46:47,333 --> 00:46:52,200 {\an1}a moment in time we call inflation. 688 00:46:52,233 --> 00:46:55,133 GLADNEY: So in this infinitesimally small time, 689 00:46:55,166 --> 00:46:58,400 {\an1}our universe went from something that's smaller than an atom... 690 00:47:00,866 --> 00:47:03,033 {\an1}...to the size of a basketball. 691 00:47:03,066 --> 00:47:04,633 {\an7}That's an amazing amount of stretching 692 00:47:04,666 --> 00:47:06,300 {\an7}in a very brief window. 693 00:47:06,333 --> 00:47:08,633 MACK: We don't know why it started 694 00:47:08,666 --> 00:47:11,666 {\an1}and we don't know why it ended. 695 00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:15,500 {\an1}When that rapid expansion slowed down, 696 00:47:15,533 --> 00:47:17,700 {\an1}something happened that dumped a bunch of energy 697 00:47:17,733 --> 00:47:20,966 {\an1}into the universe, created this fireball state. 698 00:47:27,466 --> 00:47:30,400 NARRATOR: Inflation creates the Big Bang. 699 00:47:30,433 --> 00:47:33,733 But it was not, as we commonly imagine, 700 00:47:33,766 --> 00:47:37,833 {\an1}some kind of explosion. 701 00:47:37,866 --> 00:47:42,866 {\an1}It was largely a transformation: 702 00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:47,366 {\an1}a transformation of energy into matter. 703 00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:50,666 ♪ ♪ 704 00:47:50,700 --> 00:47:54,566 {\an1}And the rapid inflation left its mark. 705 00:47:54,600 --> 00:48:00,133 {\an1}The tiny fluctuations in the rippling ocean of energy 706 00:48:00,166 --> 00:48:05,333 {\an1}became imprinted into our universe. 707 00:48:05,366 --> 00:48:08,200 KAISER: Those little quantum fluctuations, 708 00:48:08,233 --> 00:48:11,400 {\an1}they would have gotten stretched as the universe itself stretched 709 00:48:11,433 --> 00:48:13,733 {\an1}so rapidly, so dramatically. 710 00:48:13,766 --> 00:48:17,800 {\an1}So a little wave of unevenness that starts out during inflation 711 00:48:17,833 --> 00:48:20,466 {\an1}would get stretched to astrophysical scales. 712 00:48:20,500 --> 00:48:24,066 ♪ ♪ 713 00:48:24,100 --> 00:48:28,833 NARRATOR: The fluctuations that existed before the Big Bang 714 00:48:28,866 --> 00:48:33,366 {\an1}go on to create everything we see in the sky today. 715 00:48:36,900 --> 00:48:42,033 {\an8}♪ ♪ 716 00:48:46,533 --> 00:48:51,966 {\an1}Gravity takes hold of the tiny variations 717 00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:56,200 {\an1}that now crisscross the young universe. 718 00:48:57,900 --> 00:49:03,900 {\an1}Creating great clumps of matter, 719 00:49:03,933 --> 00:49:08,400 {\an1}but also great voids. 720 00:49:08,433 --> 00:49:11,700 ♪ ♪ 721 00:49:11,733 --> 00:49:16,600 {\an1}Spinning a web-like pattern that spans the universe. 722 00:49:20,466 --> 00:49:24,333 {\an1}The densest regions collapse... 723 00:49:26,833 --> 00:49:30,000 {\an1}...to form the first stars. 724 00:49:34,166 --> 00:49:38,333 ♪ ♪ 725 00:49:41,466 --> 00:49:46,833 {\an1}And the first galaxies. 726 00:49:46,866 --> 00:49:49,533 {\an1}After nine billion years 727 00:49:49,566 --> 00:49:54,100 {\an1}of cosmic evolution, 728 00:49:54,133 --> 00:49:59,533 {\an1}a new star is forming in the Milky Way: 729 00:49:59,566 --> 00:50:01,700 our sun. 730 00:50:02,966 --> 00:50:08,800 ♪ ♪ 731 00:50:08,833 --> 00:50:13,000 {\an1}Eight planets emerge, 732 00:50:13,033 --> 00:50:17,700 {\an1}including our planet: 733 00:50:17,733 --> 00:50:22,000 Earth. 734 00:50:22,033 --> 00:50:27,400 {\an1}Here is a place where the elements combine-- 735 00:50:27,433 --> 00:50:31,500 {\an1}hydrogen formed in the Big Bang, 736 00:50:31,533 --> 00:50:37,000 {\an1}carbon, oxygen, and others 737 00:50:37,033 --> 00:50:41,733 {\an1}forged in the hearts of stars-- 738 00:50:41,766 --> 00:50:46,566 to create life. 739 00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:48,566 Us. 740 00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:51,400 ♪ ♪ 741 00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:03,666 ♪ ♪ 742 00:51:09,333 --> 00:51:13,333 MACK: We are a speck of dust on a speck of dust. 743 00:51:13,366 --> 00:51:15,566 {\an1}We're totally unimportant to the universe 744 00:51:15,600 --> 00:51:18,200 {\an1}in any possible way you can think of. 745 00:51:18,233 --> 00:51:23,233 {\an1}And yet we can see the beginning of the universe. 746 00:51:23,266 --> 00:51:28,433 DVORKIN: I think it's very humbling that us as humans, 747 00:51:28,466 --> 00:51:31,100 {\an7}we have come to understand so much. 748 00:51:31,133 --> 00:51:32,966 ♪ ♪ 749 00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:37,700 GATES: The universe has somehow opened itself for us to study, 750 00:51:37,733 --> 00:51:39,200 {\an7}and maybe that's our only purpose. 751 00:51:39,233 --> 00:51:41,100 {\an7}I mean, maybe the universe created us 752 00:51:41,133 --> 00:51:42,933 {\an7}so that we would understand it. 753 00:51:42,966 --> 00:51:44,566 ♪ ♪ 754 00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:46,366 TREMBLAY: We are going to be but a sentence in the 755 00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,600 {\an1}book of the universe. 756 00:51:49,633 --> 00:51:51,366 {\an1}And so I think it's incumbent upon us to write 757 00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:56,366 {\an1}the best possible sentence that we can. 758 00:51:56,400 --> 00:51:57,966 {\an7}I cannot wait for what is to come. 759 00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:03,233 ♪ ♪ 760 00:52:28,100 --> 00:52:32,366 {\an8}♪ ♪ 761 00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:34,166 {\an8}ALOK PATEL: Want more universe? 762 00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:37,600 {\an7}Check out our companion podcast, "NOVA Now: Universe Revealed." 763 00:52:37,633 --> 00:52:40,900 {\an7}Listen at pbs.org/novanowpodcast 764 00:52:40,933 --> 00:52:43,466 {\an7}or wherever you find your podcasts. 765 00:52:43,500 --> 00:52:47,500 {\an8}ANNOUNCER: To order the five-part "NOVA: Universe Revealed" on DVD, 766 00:52:47,533 --> 00:52:52,100 {\an8}visit ShopPBS or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. 767 00:52:52,133 --> 00:52:57,200 {\an7}Also available with PBS Passport and on Amazon Prime Video. 768 00:52:57,233 --> 00:53:02,100 {\an8}♪ ♪ 769 00:53:06,966 --> 00:53:11,300 {\an8}♪ ♪