Expert: Steve Nelson - 2/10/2009

Question
Hi. I've been interested in the universe and the way it works since i was a boy (now 37!). There is something i can't understand though. As you know, when you look further into space, you also look further into the past until you get towards the begriming of time. die. the big bang. How come it doesn't matter which direction you look.. left,right,up,down its always the same? It seems weird that you look up, you get early Galaxy then the big bang. You look down and you get the same... Its like saying the big bang happened in every direction you look. I hope this didn't seem like a strange question. Thank you, Alan

Answer
The big bang did happen in every direction you look.  All the matter you see was inside it, no matter what direction you look.  You look back in time uniformly when you see light coming from distant parts of space.  Your interpretation isn't wrong, just sounds mind-bending on the face of it until you consider that all the matter you can see was inside that same big bang.