| UK science teams are working on several missions | | | | name-calling that stuck! |
| that search for evidence of our origins in the depths | | | | Stars, planets and us |
| of space. | | | | Observations and simulations have helped |
| Space telescopes like Hubble and XMM-Newton look | | | | astronomers understand how star formation led to |
| out at the furthest reaches of space, collecting light | | | | the formation of planets and even life itself. |
| from the youngest galaxies. They will be joined in the | | | | The origin of stars |
| future by the Herschel Space Observatory, the | | | | As the early Universe expanded, raw energy |
| James Webb Space Telescope and the Planck | | | | condensed into matter. Gas particles were pulled |
| mission, all gathering evidence on the origin of the | | | | together under gravity to form clouds, called nebulae. |
| Universe, stars and planets. | | | | Within these nebulae, the dense areas continued to |
| Spacecraft also look for clues about the origin of life. | | | | grow ever denser under gravity, spin and heat. |
| Hubble can detect molecules of life on planets outside | | | | Eventually, the enormous pressure caused nuclear |
| our Solar System, while Cassini Huygens and Rosetta | | | | fusion to begin and stars were formed. This is how |
| seek answers by visiting our neighbours in space. | | | | our own Sun began. |
| The ExoMars mission will visit Mars with the | | | | The origin of planets |
| UK-devised Life Marker Chip (LMC), built to detect | | | | The Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of |
| evidence of life under the surface of our nearest | | | | planet-like disks around young stars. This leads us to |
| planet. Each new mission and every fresh discovery | | | | believe that planets are formed from the debris of |
| brings us closer to a better understanding of who we | | | | star formation. Left-over particles of gas and dust |
| are, where we come from, and — ultimately — | | | | are bound together under gravity to form rocky and |
| what the future might hold. | | | | gaseous bodies around the star. |
| The Big Bang | | | | The origin of life |
| The Big Bang is the only widely accepted model of | | | | In the very act of living — and dying — stars |
| how the Universe has developed over time. | | | | fuse hydrogen to create all other elements in the |
| Astronomers have observed that the Universe is | | | | Universe before returning them to space. This |
| expanding and cooling. The crux of the Big Bang | | | | includes carbon, oxygen, calcium and all the elements |
| theory is, if you could turn the clock back, then | | | | that make up the molecules in our bodies. In the |
| earlier in time everything would have been denser | | | | words of the late astronomer and former science |
| and hotter. And the further back you go, the denser | | | | fiction writer Carl Sagan: "We are all made of |
| and hotter things get. | | | | stardust". |
| The theory’s name seems to suggest that the | | | | Theories about the origin of life on earth are being |
| Universe started with a huge explosion. This is a | | | | tested and explored through a number of |
| misconception. According to the Big Bang model, the | | | | BNSC-backed missions: |
| origin of the Universe was not an explosion of | | | | Rosetta is on its way to study a comet up close. It |
| matter into already existing space - but the very | | | | is believed that much of the water on Earth was |
| beginning of space and time. | | | | brought here by comets, so it is possible that the |
| So why the name Big Bang? It was originally given by | | | | complex organic molecules that formed the basis for |
| detractors to mock the theory and is a bit of | | | | life also came from cometary debris. |