Narrator: IN THE BEGINNING, THE UNIVERSE...
WAS A BIT OF A LETDOWN, REALLY.
Abel: FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG,
THINGS WERE ACTUALLY RATHER BORING.
IT'S JUST THIS SOUP.
Loeb: THE BIG BANG WAS NOT THE MOMENT OF CREATION.
Narrator: THE REAL MOMENT OF CREATION
CAME 100 MILLION YEARS LATER.
THERE WAS THIS MAGICAL, IF YOU LIKE, METAPHYSICAL MOMENT.
Narrator: THE COSMIC DAWN.
Bromm: THE MOMENT OF FIRST LIGHT.
Narrator: IT WASN'T REALLY OUR UNIVERSE
UNTIL THE FIRST STAR WAS BORN.
Tingay: THE FIRST STARS ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO HOW THE UNIVERSE EVOLVED.
Abel: THEY'RE LIKE THE ROCK STARS IN THE UNIVERSE.
THEY LIVE FAST AND DIE YOUNG.
Narrator: THE FIRST STAR LIT UP THE UNIVERSE...
Bromm: FOR THE FIRST TIME IN COSMIC HISTORY,
THE UNIVERSE REALLY IS GETTING INTERESTING.
Narrator: ...AND BEGAN FORGING THE INGREDIENTS
THAT MADE YOU, ME, AND EVERYTHING AROUND US.
Loeb: IT WAS THE STARTING POINT
THAT LED TO THE APPEARANCE OF LIFE.
Narrator: ASTRONOMERS ARE NOW TRYING TO WITNESS
AND UNDERSTAND THIS MOMENT OF CREATION.
Dunlop: I GUESS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE IS
SEE THE BEGINNING OF THINGS.
Loeb: WE ARE DEALING WITH A SCIENTIFIC VERSION
OF THE STORY OF GENESIS.
"LET THERE BE LIGHT."
-- Captions by VITAC -- www.vitac.com
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
Narrator: OUR STORY STARTED WITH A HOT, DENSE, AND BRIGHT BEGINNING...
...THE BIG BANG, OFTEN CREDITED AS BEING THE MOMENT OF CREATION.
Loeb: THE BIG BANG
ARRANGED THE INITIAL CONDITIONS OF THE UNIVERSE.
EARLY ON, THE UNIVERSE WAS VERY BRIGHT.
THE TEMPERATURE OF THE RADIATION WAS VERY HIGH,
MUCH HIGHER THAN WE FIND AT THE CENTERS OF STARS NOWADAYS.
BUT AS THE UNIVERSE EXPANDED, IT COOLED OFF.
Narrator: AND AS IT COOLED,
THE UNIVERSE BECAME DARKER AND DARKER.
THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, AND OUR UNIVERSE WAS NOTHING MORE
THAN A VAST, BLACK FOG OF HYDROGEN.
WELCOME TO THE DARK AGES.
Loeb: SEVERAL MILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG,
THE UNIVERSE WAS DARK AND BORING,
FILLED WITH COLD HYDROGEN ATOMS FLOATING THROUGH SPACE.
ALL THE THINGS WE TREASURE DID NOT EXIST.
THE BIG BANG WAS NOT THE MOMENT OF CREATION.
Narrator: THE BIG BANG GETS ALL THE CREDIT,
BUT IN REALITY, IT MERELY SET THE STAGE.
IT CREATED SPACE AND TIME,
A BRIEF FLASH OF LIGHT, AND SOME HYDROGEN FOG,
BUT NOTHING THAT YOU OR I WOULD RECOGNIZE
AS OUR PRESENT-DAY UNIVERSE.
BUT SOMEHOW THE UNIVERSE TRANSFORMED ITSELF
FROM DARK AND BORING
TO A PLACE FILLED WITH STARS
AND, EVENTUALLY, PLANETS AND LIFE.
FIGURING OUT THE ALMOST 14-BILLION YEAR
HISTORY OF OUR UNIVERSE
IS LIKE RESEARCHING YOUR ANCESTRY,
WHEN NO ANCESTORS LEFT ANY RECORDS,
AND SOME RELATIVES ARE IN HIDING.
Loeb: OUR COSMIC FAMILY BOOK.
THAT'S AN IMAGE OF THE EARTH FROM THE MOON,
A QUITE BEAUTIFUL IMAGE.
THIS IS OUR HOME.
AND, OF COURSE, WE WOULD LIKE TO TRACE OUR COSMIC ROOTS
ALL THE WAY BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED.
Narrator: WE HAVE SOME BRILLIANT PICTURES OF OUR UNIVERSE AS IT IS TODAY.
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM...
...OUR MILKY WAY GALAXY...
AND OUR GALACTIC NEIGHBORS.
AND IF WE GO TO THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE ALBUM,
WE ALSO HAVE ONE SPECTACULAR IMAGE.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN.
Narrator: THIS PICTURE SHOWS THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND
FROM A MERE 400,000 YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG.
Loeb: THIS IS AN IMAGE OF THE INFANT UNIVERSE,
AND THAT IMAGE SHOWS US
THE CONDITIONS IN THE VERY EARLY UNIVERSE.
Narrator: BUT AFTER THAT IMAGE,
THERE IS A GAP, A PERIOD OF DARKNESS AND FOG --
THE DARK AGES.
WE DON'T HAVE PHOTOS OF THOSE.
THESE ARE THE MISSING PAGES IN OUR PHOTO ALBUM.
"THE UNIVERSE -- THE COSMIC PHOTO ALBUM."
YEP, THAT'S WORTH A BLOW-UP.
[ LAUGHS ]
I GUESS THIS IS THE FAMOUS COSMIC DARK AGES.
[ LAUGHS, MUTTERS ]
Narrator: ASTRONOMERS ARE DESPERATE TO FILL IN THE BLANKS.
SOMEWHERE IN THESE MISSING PAGES,
THE FIRST STAR WAS BORN...
[ BOTH LAUGHING ]
STILL BLANK.
...A MOMENT OF TRANSFORMATION
WHEN THE DARK FOG GAVE WAY TO A UNIVERSE OF LIGHT...
THESE ARE THE BITS THAT WE WANT TO FILL IN.
HOW DARK IS IT?
Narrator: ...THE REAL MOMENT OF CREATION,
WHEN LIGHT AND MATTER CAME INTO BEING.
THE FIRST STAR PROBABLY FORMED ABOUT HERE.
SOMEWHERE IN THESE PAGES.
Narrator: ASTRONOMERS AROUND THE WORLD
ARE DEVISING A VARIETY OF INGENIOUS METHODS
TO CAPTURE AN IMAGE OF THAT FIRST LIGHT IN THE UNIVERSE.
AT THE EDINBURGH ROYAL OBSERVATORY,
JIM DUNLOP AND ROSS McLURE ARE TUNNELING DEEP INTO SPACE
TO SEE THE TRUE DAWN OF THE UNIVERSE.
Dunlop: WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE IS SEE THE BEGINNING OF THINGS --
SEE WHEN THE FIRST STRUCTURES IN THE UNIVERSE FORMED,
FIRST STARS, FIRST GALAXIES.
Narrator: THEY HAVE BEEN USING THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
TO TAKE ONE OF ITS MOST IMPORTANT PICTURES EVER.
THEY ARRANGED FOR THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
TO SPEND ALMOST 44 DAYS TAKING ONE VERY AMBITIOUS PHOTOGRAPH.
WE'RE LOOKING AT AN ORDINARY PATCH OF SKY.
IN THIS CASE, A LITTLE BIT TO THE RIGHT OF ORION.
BUT IT'S A TINY, TINY AREA SMALLER THAN MY FINGERNAIL
THAT LOOKS BLANK TO THE HUMAN EYE.
Narrator: IT MAY LOOK BLANK WITH THE NAKED EYE,
BUT HUBBLE IS ALLOWING JIM AND ROSS
TO TUNNEL DEEPER INTO THE DISTANT UNIVERSE
THAN EVER BEFORE.
Dunlop: WE'RE TRYING TO LOOK BACK AS FAR AS WE CAN
TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME,
AS CLOSE TO THE BIG BANG AS WE CAN MANAGE.
HERE, WE HAVE ORION,
A CONSTELLATION THAT MANY PEOPLE WILL RECOGNIZE.
AND WE'RE ZOOMING IN, TUNNELING IN.
Narrator: TO TUNNEL THROUGH SPACE AND COLLECT THE FAINT LIGHT
FROM THE MOST DISTANT OBJECTS IN THE UNIVERSITY,
THEY USED WHAT MAY BE
THE LONGEST EXPOSURE IN COSMIC HISTORY.
DURING THE COURSE OF 650 ORBITS, THEY POINTED HUBBLE
AT THE SAME TINY THUMBNAIL PATCH OF DARK SKY FOR 100 HOURS.
Dunlop: WE GO DEEPER, TUNNELING INTO DEEP SPACE,
AND WE START TO SEE VERY FAINT GALAXIES APPEAR.
Narrator: AS THEY TUNNEL,
THEY ARE REACHING FURTHER AND FURTHER BACK IN TIME,
BECAUSE THE FURTHER AWAY SOMETHING IS,
THE LONGER ITS LIGHT HAS TAKEN TO REACH US.
AND WHAT WE SEE OF A DISTANT OBJECT
IS HOW IT LOOKED IN THE DISTANT PAST.
ONE OF THE SIMPLEST WAYS TO LOOK AT IS TO REALIZE
THAT EVEN THE SUN IS SEEN AS IT WAS EIGHT MINUTES AGO.
SO, IF THE SUN DISAPPEARED,
WE WOULDN'T KNOW FOR EIGHT MINUTES.
AND IF JUPITER DISAPPEARED, WE WOULDN'T KNOW
FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
WHAT'S REALLY STAGGERING
IS THAT ONCE YOU GET TO THE NEAREST GALAXY,
THAT DELAY IS ALREADY SEVERAL MILLION YEARS.
Narrator: WHICH MEANS THAT WE ARE SEEING THESE GALAXIES
AS THEY WERE MILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE PAST.
DEEPER DOWN THE TUNNEL, THERE ARE GALAXIES
THAT WE SEE AS THEY WERE MANY BILLIONS OF YEARS AGO.
Dunlop: AND HERE, WE START TO COME INTO THIS IMAGE
OF WHAT'S CALLED THE HUBBLE ULTRA-DEEP FIELD.
AND THESE GALAXIES NOW, WE'RE SEEING BACK
TO WITHIN A BILLION YEARS OR SO OF THE BIG BANG.
Dunlop: SO, THIS HERE IS THE DEEPEST EVER IMAGE
OF THE NIGHT SKY EVER TAKEN.
Narrator: THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE'S DEEPEST, MOST DISTANT IMAGE,
SHOWS US GALAXIES AS THEY WERE OVER 13 BILLION YEARS AGO.
THAT TINY, IF YOU LIKE, BORE HOLE THAT WE MADE INTO THE SKY.
SO, IT IS A WINDOW INTO A VERY DIFFERENT TIME.
McLure: WE'RE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO LOOK AT THIS DATA.
THERE'S JUST ONE OBJECT IN THERE
FROM THE THOUSANDS THAT ARE IN THAT IMAGE
THAT WE IDENTIFIED AS BEING POTENTIALLY THE MOST --
THE MOST DISTANT OBJECT EVER BEEN SEEN BY ANYONE.
THIS ONE HERE IS THE MOST DISTANT OF ALL.
SORT OF ZOOMED IN, IT'S JUST LITERALLY A FAINT BLOB.
AND THERE'S ONLY A FEW PHOTONS OF LIGHT
BEING COLLECTED TO SEE THIS OBJECT,
WHICH WE'RE SEEING
ONLY 500 MILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG.
Narrator: THIS FAINT BLOB TURNED OUT TO BE AN ENTIRE GALAXY.
Dunlop: SEE, IT'S NOT A STAR. IT'S NOT POINT-LIKE.
YOU CAN SEE IT'S SLIGHTLY EXTENDED,
WHICH PROVES IT'S A GALAXY.
AND ABOUT 20 TIMES SMALLER THAN OUR MILKY WAY.
BUT THAT'S ABOUT ALL WE HAVE ON THIS GALAXY.
WE CAN'T EVEN MEASURE ITS COLOR VERY WELL.
IT'S ONLY JUST DETECTED BY HUBBLE
IN ITS VERY REDDEST WAVELENGTH.
THERE'S A CERTAIN EXCITEMENT
TO BEING THE FIRST PERSON TO EVER LOOK AT THAT IMAGE,
AND FROM THAT IMAGE,
SEE THIS OBJECT THAT NOBODY'S EVER SEEN BEFORE.
LET'S PUT IT IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
Narrator: ROSS AND JIM HAVE IDENTIFIED THE OLDEST GALAXY EVER FOUND.
IT'S MORE THAN 13 BILLION YEARS OLD.
YOU CAN DO THE STICKING. WHY NOT?
THIS IMAGE SHOWS ONE OF THE FIRST GALAXIES,
BILLIONS OF STARS GATHERED TOGETHER.
WHICH WAY UP IS IT?
BUT THE FIRST INDIVIDUAL STAR IS NOT IN THIS GALAXY.
WE WILL NEED OTHER TOOLS TO SEE THAT.
AT SIDING SPRING OBSERVATORY IN AUSTRALIA,
STEFAN KELLER IS TRYING TO SEE
THE VERY FIRST STAR TO EVER LIGHT UP THE UNIVERSE.
HE'S NOT STARING AT THE FURTHEST REACHES OF SPACE.
HE'S LOOKING MUCH CLOSER TO HOME.
THE STAR WE'RE MOST FAMILIAR WITH IS, OF COURSE, OUR OWN SUN.
Keller: HERE WE ARE ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS
CATCHING THE LAST RAYS OF THE SUN.
AND THE SUN IS VERY SPECIAL FOR US,
BUT IT'S A VERY AVERAGE SORT OF STAR.
IT'S BEEN AROUND FOR ABOUT 4.6 BILLION YEARS --
1/3 OF THE LIFETIME OF THE UNIVERSE.
Narrator: THAT MAY SOUND LIKE A LONG TIME,
BUT IT'S PRETTY TYPICAL FOR STARS IN OUR GALAXY.
Keller: WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR ARE THOSE VERY RARE STARS
THAT ARE AMONGST THE OLDEST STARS THAT ARE OUT THERE.
Narrator: STARS CAN BE 100,000 TIMES BIGGER THAN EARTH,
BUT ALL STEFAN HAS AVAILABLE FOR STUDY
IS A PINPRICK OF LIGHT.
Keller: LIGHT IS ALL THAT WE HAVE TO WORK WITH.
WE NEED SPECIAL WAYS
OF DISSECTING THE STARLIGHT THAT IS COMING TO US
SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY'VE COME FROM,
HOW OLD THEY ARE.
WHEN WE DECODE THAT, WE CAN UNIQUELY IDENTIFY
SOME OF THE OLDEST STARS THAT REMAIN WITH US TODAY.
Narrator: BY ANALYZING STARLIGHT,
STEFAN CAN SEE WHAT THE STAR IS MADE OF.
AND IF HE KNOWS THAT, HE CAN ESTIMATE THE STAR'S AGE.
Keller: STARS ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO LIFE, BECAUSE THEY'RE THE FURNACES
THAT HAVE CREATED EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED ON EARTH.
THE ROCKS THAT WE SEE HAVE BEEN FORMED INSIDE A STELLAR INTERIOR
AND THEN THROWN BACK OUT INTO THE UNIVERSE.
THE GOLD AND THE SILVER IN THE RINGS ON MY FINGER,
THEY'VE ALL BEEN MADE IN A SUPERNOVA.
THERE'S NO OTHER PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE
THAT YOU CAN CREATE ELEMENTS LIKE THAT.
Narrator: AFTER A LIFETIME FORGING ELEMENTS AS HEAVY AS IRON,
A STAR WILL EVENTUALLY RUN OUT OF FUEL.
MANY THEN EXPLODE IN A MASSIVE SUPERNOVA,
SPEWING OUT A CLOUD OF DEBRIS INTO INTERSTELLAR SPACE.
THIS RICH CLOUD IS THEN RECYCLED
INTO THE NEXT GENERATION OF STARS.
Keller: AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN,
THIS COSMIC RECYCLING HAS TAKEN PLACE.
IN A STAR LIKE THE SUN,
THERE HAVE BEEN ABOUT 1,000 GENERATIONS OF STARS BEFORE IT.
Narrator: EACH GENERATION HAS A RICHER AND RICHER COMPOSITION
OF HEAVIER AND HEAVIER ELEMENTS,
AND PARTICULARLY NOTICEABLE IS THE BUILDUP OF IRON.
Keller: SO, THE AMOUNT OF IRON IS AN ARROW OF TIME.
IT SHOWS US HOW OLD THE STAR IS.
Narrator: IF YOU WANT TO FIND A VERY OLD STAR,
YOU NEED TO FIND ONE WITH VERY LITTLE IRON.
THE WAY TO DO THAT
IS TO LOOK FOR A SPECIFIC BUT MINUTE VARIATION IN COLOR.
EACH NIGHT, STEFAN'S ROBOTIC SkyMapper TELESCOPE
CAPTURES THE LIGHT FROM NEARLY A MILLION STARS.
IT AUTOMATICALLY ANALYZES THE COLOR OF EACH ONE
AND ARRANGES THEM ON A GRAPH FOR STEFAN
ACCORDING TO IRON CONTENT.
SO, WE SEE MOST STARS LIKE THE SUN HAVE QUITE A LOT OF IRON.
BUT THEN THERE'S THIS TAIL OF OBJECTS
THAT DON'T HAVE MUCH IRON IN THEM AT ALL.
AND THEY'RE THE POTENTIAL NEEDLES IN THE HAYSTACK.
Narrator: IN 2013, SkyMapper PRESENTED STEFAN WITH A STAR
THAT STOOD APART FROM ALL OTHERS ON STEFAN'S GRAPH.
HERE YOU SEE ABOUT 100 OR SO ORDINARY STARS
SCATTERED AROUND THE FIELD,
AND IN THE CENTER IS THE STAR THAT WE DISCOVERED.
Narrator: THIS STAR HAD INCREDIBLY LOW IRON CONTENT.
AT FIRST, WE THOUGHT WE MUST'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG HERE.
BUT WE CONFIRMED IT THE NEXT NIGHT.
AND THAT'S WHEN THINGS REALLY GOT EXCITING.
Narrator: THE NEXT STEP WAS TO TAKE A MUCH CLOSER LOOK
WITH A MUCH BIGGER TELESCOPE.
Keller: WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH
TO FIND SOME TELESCOPE TIME OVER IN CHILE,
AND WE STARED AT THIS ONE STAR THE ENTIRE NIGHT,
BUILDING UP A VERY DETAILED SPECTRUM OF THE STAR.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT WE SAW
THAT WE JUST HADN'T EVER SEEN BEFORE.
WHAT WE SEE HERE IS A SPECTRUM OF LIGHT
FROM A STAR THAT'S SIMILAR TO THE SUN.
THIS IS LIKE A FINGERPRINT FROM THE STAR,
AND IT TELLS US HOW MUCH IRON, MAGNESIUM, AND CALCIUM
IS INSIDE THAT STAR.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S QUITE A LOT OF LINES HERE.
IN THE CASE OF OUR STAR, WHICH IS AT THE TOP HERE,
ALL WE SEE ARE THE LINES OF HYDROGEN,
AND A LITTLE BIT HERE, WHICH IS CARBON.
AND, SO, IT'S QUITE A DIFFERENT RECIPE.
AND, INDEED, WE JUST DON'T SEE
ANY IRON DETECTABLE IN THIS STAR.
AND WE KNEW THAT WE WERE ONTO SOMETHING VERY EXCITING,
'CAUSE WE HAD NEVER SEEN A STAR LIKE THIS BEFORE.
Narrator: A STAR WITH NO DETECTABLE IRON MUST'VE BEEN MADE VERY EARLY ON
IN THE PROCESS OF COSMIC RECYCLING.
IT'S BEEN AROUND FOR 13.6 BILLION YEARS.
IT'S A VERY PRISTINE STAR.
IT FORMED VERY EARLY ON IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE
BEFORE MUCH STELLAR RECYCLING HAD TAKEN PLACE.
Narrator: STEFAN HAD DISCOVERED THE OLDEST STAR EVER SEEN.
IT'S BEEN BURNING FOR 13.6 BILLION YEARS --
NOT QUITE THE FIRST STAR, BUT ALMOST.
IN FACT, WHAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO WITH THIS STAR
IS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, SAY
THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE STAR THAT PRECEDED IT.
Narrator: STEFAN'S STAR HAD TO HAVE BEEN FORMED FROM THE EXPLODING DEBRIS
OF ONE OF THE VERY FIRST STARS IN THE UNIVERSE.
STEFAN'S IMAGE OF A SECOND-GENERATION STAR
TAKES US CLOSER TO THE DARK AGES THAN EVER BEFORE.
AH. HERE WE ARE.
THAT LOOKS LIKE THE RIGHT SPOT.
THIS IS A STAR THAT PREDATES THE MILKY WAY GALAXY ITSELF.
Narrator: BUT WE MUST GO EVEN FURTHER,
BECAUSE EVEN BEFORE THIS
CAME THE VERY FIRST GENERATION OF STARS OF THE COSMIC DAWN.
THE FIRST STARS CAME TOGETHER IN A DARK SEA OF HYDROGEN ATOMS.
Bromm: AS YOU GO BACK TO THIS TIME OF THE DARK AGES,
THE UNIVERSE LOOKED COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
IF YOU HAD A HUMAN OBSERVER TRANSLATED BACK IN TIME,
YOU WOULD SEE A COMPLETELY DARK, BORING, FEATURELESS UNIVERSE --
AN UTTERLY ALIEN PLACE, IT WOULD APPEAR TO US.
IT WAS A UNIVERSE WITHOUT ANY LIGHT.
THERE WERE NO STARS, NO GALAXIES.
Narrator: JUST A COLLECTION OF LONE HYDROGEN ATOMS
AND THE ODD BIT OF HELIUM SPREAD OUT IN A DIFFUSE FOG.
Bromm: HYDROGEN WOULD BE IN ITS MOST PRIMITIVE STATE --
SINGLE HYDROGEN ATOMS.
AND, BASICALLY, WE WOULD HAVE, SAY,
A VOLUME OF THE SIZE OF MY STRETCHED-OUT ARMS.
THEN IN THIS VOLUME,
YOU WOULD PARTICULARLY HAVE ONE HYDROGEN ATOM.
Narrator: SO DIFFUSE THAT IF A HYDROGEN ATOM
WAS THE SIZE OF A PING PONG BALL,
THE NEXT CLOSEST ONE WOULD BE HALFWAY TO THE MOON.
Bromm: SO, WE HAVE THIS VERY DIFFUSE UNIVERSE.
HOW DO WE GET STARS OUT OF THIS?
Narrator: VOLKER BROMM DECIDED
THE ONLY WAY TO GET A PICTURE OF THE FIRST STAR
WAS TO BUILD ONE FROM SCRATCH,
ONE HYDROGEN ATOM AT A TIME.
IT WAS TIME TO FORGET THE TELESCOPES
AND USE A SUPERCOMPUTER.
Narrator: ASTRONOMER VOLKER BROMM IS USING A SUPERCOMPUTER
TO CREATE AN IMAGE OF THE FIRST STAR EVER FORMED.
Bromm: WE CAN INPUT INTO THE SUPERCOMPUTERS
ALL THE LAWS OF PHYSICS,
FROM, AS WE SAY, FIRST PRINCIPLE.
WE CAN PUT IN THE INITIAL CONDITIONS,
BECAUSE INITIAL CONDITIONS IS WHAT WE SEE HERE.
THERE ARE NO MISSING PIECES.
WE HAVE ALL THE LAWS OF PHYSICS
THAT DESCRIBE THE BEHAVIOR OF THESE BASIC INGREDIENTS,
AND AT THAT POINT, WE SET UP THE COMPUTER,
AND THEN WE LET IT GO.
[ OPERATIC SINGING ]
Narrator: THE SCALE OF THE CALCULATION SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE --
TO MODEL THE BEHAVIOR
OF VAST CLOUDS OF PRIMORDIAL HYDROGEN GAS,
TRILLIONS OF HYDROGEN ATOMS, ONE INTERACTION AT A TIME,
AND TO ASK THE QUESTION, "WILL THEY FORM A STAR?"
Bromm: AT FIRST, YOU MIGHT THINK THIS IS HOPELESS.
HOW DO WE GET THINGS LIKE STARS OUT OF THIS?
BUT WHAT REALLY THEN KICKS IN IS THE FORCE OF GRAVITY.
THE FORCE OF GRAVITY HAS AN INFINITE REACH.
IT REACHES OVER FAR STRETCHES OF THE UNIVERSE,
MILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS.
SO, THE FORCE OF GRAVITY, IN A WAY, IS A VERY PATIENT FORCE.
Narrator: TINY FLUCTUATIONS LEFT OVER FROM THE BIG BANG
MEANT SOME REGIONS WERE EVER SO SLIGHTLY MORE DENSE THAN OTHERS,
ALLOWING GRAVITY TO WORK ITS MAGIC.
Bromm: GRAVITY WOULD VERY, VERY SLOWLY ACT
TO CLUMP MATTER TOGETHER.
CERTAIN REGIONS OF SPACE
WHERE THEN THE DENSITY OF PRIMORDIAL STUFF
IS LARGER THAN THE REST.
AND THEN WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS MILLIONS OF YEARS,
MILLION OF YEARS WOULD CREATE AND ATTRACT
MORE AND MORE MATERIAL.
Narrator: EVENTUALLY, GRAVITY WOULD PULL SUCH A VAST COLLECTION OF ATOMS
SO INCREDIBLY CLOSE TOGETHER UNDER SUCH EXTREME PRESSURE,
THAT IT COULD TRIGGER NUCLEAR FUSION,
AND A STAR COULD BE BORN.
BUT EVEN AS GRAVITY IS PULLING THE GAS ATOMS CLOSER TOGETHER,
THERE'S ANOTHER FORCE TRYING TO PUSH THEM APART.
Bromm: AND IT COMES TOGETHER.
WHEN WE COMPRESS GAS, THEN IT ALSO IS HEATED UP.
AND AT SOME POINT, THE HEAT -- WE BASICALLY HAVE RANDOM MOTION.
AND THE RANDOM MOTION WILL BASICALLY PREVENT GRAVITY
FROM CONDENSING THE GAS ANY FURTHER.
Narrator: THE MORE THAT GRAVITY SQUEEZES INWARDS,
THE MORE THE GAS HEATS UP AND PUSHES OUTWARDS.
IT'S A STALEMATE.
AND THEN THE IMPORTANT QUESTION IS, "CAN THIS GAS,
THIS PRIMORDIAL GAS, CAN THIS GET RID OF THE HEAT?"
Narrator: WHAT TIPPED THE BALANCE IN FAVOR OF GRAVITY
WERE A FEW CHANCE ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN HYDROGEN ATOMS.
Bromm: VERY RARELY, SOMETHING VERY DRAMATICALLY HAPPENED.
YOU HAVE THE TWO HYDROGEN ATOMS,
AND THEY MEET, AND THEY FORM HYDROGEN MOLECULES.
Narrator: AND, CRUCIALLY, A PAIR LIKE THIS
ARE ABLE TO ABSORB A TINY BIT OF HEAT
IN A WAY THAT A LONE ATOM CAN'T.
THIS IS THE KEY PROCESS
FOR THE ENTIRE END OF THE COSMIC DARK AGES.
THE GAS CAN COOL.
GRAVITY CAN TAKE OVER AND EVENTUALLY CREATE CONDITIONS
THAT ARE SO EXTREME IN TERMS OF TEMPERATURE AND DENSITY
THAT YOU CAN TRIGGER NUCLEAR FUSION.
YOU CAN EVENTUALLY FORM, OUT OF THIS MATERIAL, STARS.
[ OPERATIC SINGING ]
Narrator: THE FIRST STAR IS BORN.
THE FIRST LIGHT OF THE UNIVERSE IS CREATED.
THE GAS HAS COLLAPSED FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS
INTO THE CENTER OF THE SYSTEM,
AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN COSMIC HISTORY,
WE SEE THE MOMENT OF FIRST LIGHT,
THE MOMENT THAT THE FIRST STAR FORMED.
Narrator: AFTER 100 MILLION YEARS,
THIS WAS HOW THE DARK AGES FINALLY CAME TO AN END.
THE FIRST STARS WERE GIANTS --
100 TIMES OR MORE THE MASS OF THE SUN.
Bromm: THAT HAS DRAMATIC CONSEQUENCES,
BECAUSE MASSIVE STARS HAVE A VERY DIFFERENT LIFE,
A MUCH MORE VIOLENT LIFE
THAN THE KIND OF LOW-MASS STAR THAT THE SUN IS.
THEY WOULD BE 20 TIMES HOTTER...
...SHINING ULTRAVIOLET BLUE...
...10 MILLION TIMES MORE LUMINOUS THAN THE SUN.
Narrator: VOLKER BROMM'S SUPERCOMPUTER HAS GIVEN US AN IMAGE
OF THE FIRST STARS EVER TO SHINE IN THE DARKNESS OF SPACE.
Bromm: THE ONE PICTURE THAT REALLY CAPTURES
THIS METAPHYSICAL MOMENT OF FIRST LIGHT
WOULD BE LIKE THIS,
A SUPERCOMPUTER FRAME THAT SHOWS THE VERY FIRST STAR.
Narrator: IT'S A REALISTIC IMAGE
OF THE FIRST LIGHT FROM THE FIRST-EVER STAR.
LET'S PATCH IT IN
JUST AT THE END OF THE COSMIC DARK AGES,
BECAUSE THIS IS WHEN IT HAPPENED.
Narrator: IT SHOWS THE MOMENT WHEN,
FROM THE IMPENETRABLE FOG OF THE DARK AGES,
LIGHT FINALLY DAWNED ON THE UNIVERSE.
Loeb: SOON AFTER THE FIRST STAR FORMED,
A FEW MILLION YEARS LATER,
ANOTHER STAR FORMED SOMEWHERE ELSE.
AND THEN THE PROCESS ACCELERATED.
Narrator: AFTER 100 MILLION YEARS OF DARKNESS,
LIGHTS WERE COMING ON ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.
Loeb: IT GREW UP EXPONENTIALLY.
VERY QUICKLY, WITHIN TENS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS,
THERE WERE PLENTY OF STARS FILLING UP THE UNIVERSE.
Narrator: THIS WAS THE ERA THAT SO MANY ASTRONOMERS HAVE SEARCHED FOR --
THE COSMIC DAWN.
Loeb: THE COSMIC DAWN WOULD'VE BEEN SPECTACULAR.
NEW GALAXIES WERE FORMING OUT OF DARKNESS.
THIS AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT WAS A VERY DYNAMIC PERIOD OF TIME.
Narrator: THESE GREAT FURNACES START FORGING
THE MORE USEFUL INGREDIENTS OF THE UNIVERSE.
Abel: ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT GETS INTERESTING.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, NEW ELEMENTS ARE BEING MADE.
THEY TAKE HYDROGEN, TURN IT INTO HELIUM.
HELIUM GETS COMBINED TO MAKE CARBON,
AND WE GO TO OXYGEN, AND SO ON.
Narrator: DEEP IN THEIR HEARTS, THE FIRST GIANT STARS
BEGAN THE TRANSFORMATION OF MATTER,
PRODUCING THE HEAVY ELEMENTS NECESSARY FOR LIFE.
THEY WERE HUGE
BUT SO HOT THAT THEY BURNED THROUGH THEIR FUEL QUICKLY.
Abel: THEY CAN ONLY LIVE FOR A VERY SHORT TIME --
ONLY A FEW MILLION YEARS.
THAT'S REALLY NOTHING.
WE OFTEN SAY THEY'RE LIKE THE ROCK STARS IN THE UNIVERSE.
THEY LIVE FAST AND DIE YOUNG.
AND SO, BY THE TIME YOU MAKE ANOTHER ONE,
OVER HERE, THIS ONE MAY ALREADY BE READY TO DIE.
Narrator: WHEN THEY DIED, THEY DIED IN A UNIQUE TYPE OF SUPERNOVA,
A HYPERNOVA --
THE BIGGEST EXPLOSIONS EVER SEEN IN THE UNIVERSE.
STARS WERE APPEARING AND DISAPPEARING.
IT'S LIKE FIREWORKS.
IT'S VERY DYNAMIC.
Loeb: THESE WERE THE VERY FIRST EVENTS
THAT SPEWED OUT THE HEAVY ELEMENTS
AND LED TO THE FORMATION OF THE SECOND GENERATION OF STARS.
Narrator: FOR THE FIRST TIME, STARS WERE MADE,
LIGHT WAS PRODUCED, AND HEAVY ELEMENTS WERE FORGED.
AND YET, THE DRAMATIC EVENTS OF THE COSMIC DAWN
WERE STILL SHROUDED BEHIND A VEIL OF FOG.
Abel: THOSE FIRST STARS -- VERY BRIGHT, YOU KNOW?
THEY COULD BE A MILLION TIMES AS BRIGHT AS OUR OWN SUN,
GIVING OFF TONS AND TONS OF LIGHT.
BUT THE LIGHT'S NOT GETTING VERY FAR YET.
ACTUALLY, MOST OF IT GETS SORT OF STOPPED
BY ALL THIS FOG OF HYDROGEN.
Narrator: ATOMS OF NEUTRAL HYDROGEN
FILLED THE SPACE BETWEEN THE GIANT FIRST STARS.
Abel: AS THE LIGHT LEAVES THE SURFACE OF THE STAR, TRAVELS OUTWARD,
IT GETS STOPPED, SO IT COULDN'T GET TO US YET.
SO THE UNIVERSE AT THIS POINT IS STILL OPAQUE.
Narrator: TOM ABEL USES SUPERCOMPUTER SIMULATIONS
TO MODEL THESE FIRST STARS AND THE FOG
TO SEE HOW THE UNIVERSE BECAME TRANSPARENT.
Abel: WHAT WE'D LIKE TO DO IS TRY AND PREDICT THE PAST.
WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS ONE OF THE FIRST STARS FORMING.
THERE'S A WHOLE FILAMENT OF GAS. THAT WAS ALL THAT HYDROGEN GAS.
NOW, SEE, EVERYTHING THAT GETS BLUE HERE GETS REALLY HOT.
THAT'S THE ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION FROM THIS STAR
AFFECTING EVERYTHING
UP TO THOUSANDS OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY FROM THAT STAR.
THE RADIATION THAT THEY GIVE OFF, AS IT'S TRYING TO ESCAPE,
IONIZES HYDROGEN GAS.
BUT AS A CONSEQUENCE,
YOU ACTUALLY MAKE THINGS TRANSPARENT.
RADIATION HITS THE FOG.
FOG GETS TRANSPARENT.
NOW MY BOUNDARY TO THE FOG IS FURTHER AWAY.
RADIATION IN THE NEXT LITTLE BIT CAN GO A LITTLE FURTHER.
SO, I MAKE THESE BUBBLES.
Narrator: EACH STAR CREATED A CLEARING IN THE FOG AROUND ITSELF,
BLOWING A BUBBLE OF TRANSPARENT SPACE.
Abel: THE SIMPLEST WAY TO THINK ABOUT IT IS SOME SWISS CHEESE.
AS THEIR LIGHT TRAVELS OUT, IT CHANGES THE "CHEESE."
OUR AIR BUBBLES ARE GROWING, AND WE MAKE EVER LARGER ONES.
IN THIS WAY OF THINKING ABOUT IT,
AT THE END, WE END UP WITH NO CHEESE AT ALL.
[ LAUGHS ] ALL THE BUBBLES ARE SO BIG
THAT THE LIGHT FROM THOSE OBJECTS REALLY TRAVEL FREELY.
Narrator: THIS IMAGE SHOWS THE COSMIC DARK AGES COMING TO AN END
AS THE FIRST LIGHT CLEARS A PATH THROUGH THE UNIVERSE.
Abel: WE'RE NOT EVEN COMPLETE YET.
SOME PARTS OF THE UNIVERSE ARE STILL NEUTRAL AND OPAQUE.
BUT THERE IT GOES. THE WHOLE FOG LIFTS,
AND ALL THE GALAXIES ARE REVEALED.
RE-IONIZATION WOULD BE COMPLETE SOMEWHERE IN THESE PAGES.
Narrator: TOM'S MODELS OFFER AN EXPLANATION
FOR HOW OUR UNIVERSE FINALLY BECAME TRANSPARENT.
SHALL WE GLUE IT IN? MAYBE WITH A LIGHT GLUE.
[ LAUGHS ]
IN CASE WE HAVE TO CORRECT IT.
Narrator: THE THEORIES AND COMPUTER MODELS ARE VALID,
BUT THERE'S STILL TESTING TO BE DONE IN THE REAL WORLD.
Narrator: STEVEN TINGAY IS TRYING TO SEE THE FIRST STARS BEING BORN,
BUT HE'S DOING IT IN AN UNEXPECTED WAY.
HE'S TRYING TO TUNE IN TO RADIO HYDROGEN.
[ ROCK MUSIC PLAYING ]
¶ FIRST LIGHT TONIGHT
¶ FIRST LIGHT TOMORROW
¶ FIRST LIGHT THIS MORNING
Tingay: WELL, IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE, IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS,
THERE WERE VAST AMOUNTS OF HYDROGEN,
AND EACH ONE OF THOSE HYDROGEN ATOMS
CAN RANDOMLY GIVE OFF A RADIO WAVE.
AND, SO, WE CAN TUNE OUR TELESCOPE
TO THAT RADIO FREQUENCY,
AND THEN WE'RE TUNING IN TO THE HYDROGEN GAS.
¶ FIRST LIGHT THIS MORNING
¶ FIRST LIGHT THIS EVENING
¶ FIRST LIGHT TONIGHT
¶ BEEN LOOKING BACK
Narrator: UNFORTUNATELY, THE BAND OF RADIO WHERE HYDROGEN CAN BE HEARD
IS ALREADY FILLED WITH MUSIC AND NEWS HERE ON EARTH.
¶ FIRST, I WAS AN ANCIENT
HYDROGEN GAS PRODUCES RADIO WAVES
AT A VERY SPECIFIC FREQUENCY.
THAT'S SIMILAR TO SORT OF F.M. RADIO
BY THE TIME THEY GET TO US.
SO, IT MEANS THAT WE'VE GOT TO BUILD OUR TELESCOPES
IN AREAS WHERE THERE'S NO HUMAN INTERFERENCE.
SO, YOU CAN'T HAVE F.M. RADIO. YOU CAN'T HAVE TV.
YOU CAN'T HAVE MOBILE PHONES, TRAFFIC ON THE ROAD,
OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
¶ FIRST LIGHT TONIGHT
¶ FIRST LIGHT THIS EVENING
¶ FIRST LIGHT THIS MORNING
DISTANCE IS THE ONLY CURE,
SO WE NEED TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, BASICALLY.
Narrator: MURCHISON COUNTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA,
IS BIGGER THAN MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND COMBINED,
BUT WITH LESS THAN 150 RESIDENTS.
¶ THEN I FOUND IT
¶ I DID IT FINALLY, OH
IT'S A TERRIBLE PLACE
IF YOU WANT RADIO, TELEVISION, OR CELLPHONE SERVICE.
¶ I PRAYED TILL IT WAS GONE
¶ MY ALL IN LIGHT
BUT IT'S THE PERFECT PLACE
TO HEAR RADIO FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME.
THIS IS STEVEN'S TELESCOPE,
THE MURCHISON WIDEFIELD ARRAY, OR MWA.
Tingay: SO, WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE ARE THE ANTENNAS.
WE HAVE A CLUSTER OF 16 OF THEM HERE.
SO, YOU CAN BUILD A LOT OF ANTENNAS
AND GET A VERY SENSITIVE TELESCOPE.
Narrator: 2,000 ANTENNAS SPREAD OUT OVER 1/3 OF A SQUARE MILE
ARE SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO RECEIVE RADIO WAVES
THAT HAVE TRAVELED MORE THAN 13 BILLION LIGHT-YEARS.
Tingay: SO, THAT GAS OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE PRODUCES THE RADIO WAVES.
NO RADIO WAVES FROM THE BUBBLE.
AND SO, FOR US, WE'RE SORT OF LOOKING
FOR THIS SWISS-CHEESE PATTERN OF BUBBLES AND HOLES
IN THE HYDROGEN GAS DISTRIBUTION.
Narrator: ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO SEE THE FIRST STARS,
IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS RADIO TELESCOPE
TO FIND CLUES ABOUT THE WAY THEY CLEARED THE HYDROGEN FOG.
Tingay: WE DON'T ACTUALLY SEE THE STARS THEMSELVES.
WE SEE THE EFFECT OF THE STAR ON ITS ENVIRONMENT.
THIS IS AN ACTUAL IMAGE MADE FROM THE MWA DATA.
THIS IS A PATCH OF THE SKY
THAT'S AROUND ABOUT 30 DEGREES ACROSS,
SO IT'S QUITE A BIG CHUNK OF SKY.
SO, WE'RE LOOKING THROUGH OUR ATMOSPHERE.
WE'RE LOOKING THROUGH OUR GALAXY.
WE'RE LOOKING THROUGH MOST OF THE UNIVERSE.
IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY DOWN HERE, YOU CAN SEE MANY, MANY SPECKS,
AND THESE ARE ALL GALAXIES OR QUASARS,
MILLIONS, BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY.
SO, WE NEED TO REMOVE EACH OF THESE SIGNALS ONE BY ONE
IN ORDER TO PEEL BACK THOSE LAYERS.
AND, HOPEFULLY, WHAT WE'RE LEFT WITH
IS JUST THE SIGNATURE OF THE GAS AND THE FIRST STARS FORMING
13 BILLION YEARS AGO.
Narrator: THIS RADIO SIGNAL WILL BE OUR FIRST DIRECT CONTACT
WITH THE VERY FIRST STARS IN THE UNIVERSE.
Tingay: IT'S INCREDIBLE TO THINK
THAT IN THIS VERY IMAGE THAT I'M LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW,
THAT SIGNAL EXISTS.
WHAT'S REALLY SPECIAL FOR ME IS BEING ABLE TO LOOK AT THIS
WHILE SORT OF SITTING IN AN ANCIENT LANDSCAPE
WHERE WE'VE ACTUALLY BUILT THE TELESCOPE AND COLLECTED THE DATA
FROM THESE SIGNALS THAT HAVE TRAVERSED
BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE.
SO, IT'S JUST ASTONISHING
ON A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT LEVELS FOR ME.
Loeb: WE ARE ALL CURIOUS WHERE WE CAME FROM.
WE ARE NOW AT A SPECIAL TIME
THAT ALLOWS US TO EXPLORE THESE QUESTIONS SCIENTIFICALLY.
WE ARE ABLE TO PEER DEEP INTO SPACE
AND SEE THOSE VERY EARLY SOURCES OF LIGHT
THAT TELL US HOW WE CAME INTO EXISTENCE.