Big Bang, Life & Quark Stars: How Long Before We're Cool?

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In summary, the conversation discusses the potential timeline for the universe to be cool enough to support life, with estimates ranging from 800 to 1200 million years after the Big Bang. The question of how long the afterglow of the Big Bang would have been visible in the sky is also brought up, with an estimated time of 400,000 years until last scattering. The conversation also briefly touches on the concept of a quark star and its minimum mass and ability to emit light.
  • #1
TeeTeeKnow
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Life?

With the present understanding of the age of the universe (acceleration and temperature), how long before the universe is cool enough to support our type of life?

And

If the Earth existed since the BB, how long would we see a red sky at night from the after glow of the big bang? I guess size and time would be important here.


Quark star?

If there is a quark star,
What would the minimum mass of such a star be?
Could light escape its surface?
 
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  • #2
Thread moved from Cosmology to Homework Help.

With the present understanding of the age of the universe (acceleration and temperature), how long before the universe is cool enough to support our type of life?

I'd say it's supporting it right about now, no?
 
  • #3
berkeman said:
Thread moved from Cosmology to Homework Help.



I'd say it's supporting it right about now, no?

as an ex moto-x'er myself maybe I was not clear.

How long after the BB I mean.
I read some numbers a while ago and can not remember where.

This is actually not homework.
An “I do not know” or “please clarify” is an acceptable answer.
 
  • #4
Guess I'll move it back to Cosmology then. There's not much on the BB at Hyperphysics, but there's a reasonable intro at wikipedia.org (always be careful about the accuracy of articles at wikipedia, though), including some timeline info. It doesn't exactly address your first question, though.

And on your 2nd question, you might want to re-word it, since the Earth wasn't around since the BB, just the matter that ended up in the Earth.
 
  • #5
TeeTeeKnow said:
With the present understanding of the age of the universe (acceleration and temperature), how long before the universe is cool enough to support our type of life?

That isn't too easy to answer exactly but I think you can get a reasonable idea this way. It's pretty convincing to expect that stars and planets must have formed in order for life anything like the life here on Earth to have evolved. So...

The first stars seemed to have formed sometime in the first billion years. However for planets to form you need some heavier elements to be cooked up in stars. This could take anywhere from a few million years (for really large stars) to a few billion years (for smaller stars). But it does seem likely that sufficient heavier elements might be available in perhaps 100 million years. So a resonable estimate for the earliest possible appearance of life might be from say 800 to 1200 million years after the BB.

TeeTeeKnow said:
If the Earth existed since the BB, how long would we see a red sky at night from the after glow of the big bang? I guess size and time would be important here.

The Earth couldn't have existed from the BB but hypothetically you'd have seen a bright sky right up until the time of last scattering some 400000 years.

Sorry, I don't have even a guess for your last question.
 

1. What is the Big Bang theory?

The Big Bang theory is the scientific explanation for the origin of the universe. It proposes that the universe began as a singularity and has been expanding and cooling over the course of 13.8 billion years.

2. How did life originate on Earth?

The origin of life on Earth is still a mystery, but scientists believe that it began with simple organic molecules combining and forming more complex structures over time. This process likely took place in a primordial soup of chemicals and energy on Earth's early surface.

3. What are quark stars?

Quark stars are hypothetical objects that are thought to be composed entirely of quarks, the fundamental particles that make up protons and neutrons. They are theorized to form when a neutron star collapses under its own gravity.

4. How long until we can travel to other cool planets?

At this time, we do not have the technology to travel to other planets outside of our solar system. It would require significant advancements in propulsion and space travel technology, which may take decades or even centuries to develop.

5. What impact will the eventual death of our sun have on Earth?

In about 5 billion years, our sun will expand into a red giant, engulfing Mercury and Venus and likely also Earth. However, humanity will not be around to witness this event as the Earth will become uninhabitable long before then due to the increasing brightness and heat from the sun.

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