# Observing the Big Bang

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/observing-the-big-bang/281899>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 28, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/observing-the-big-bang/281899 "2004-12-28T05:44:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/observing-the-big-bang/281899/1 "2004-12-28T05:44:54Z")

</div>

I realize that this is probably a stupid question, but here goes.

If the universe is 13 some billion years old, why can’t we just look 13 billion light years away and see the Big Bang?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/observing-the-big-bang/281899/2 "2004-12-28T05:49:59Z")

</div>

> [@Strinka](#):
>
> I realize that this is probably a stupid question, but here goes.
> 
> If the universe is 13 some billion years old, why can’t we just look 13 billion light years away and see the Big Bang?

Because we are inside the Big Bang. However, you can “see” the Big Bang through a microwave receiver, in the form of Cosmic Background Radiation.

[http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gr/public/cmbr\_home.html](http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gr/public/cmbr_home.html)

Since we are within the Big Bang, the radiation is coming from all directions.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/observing-the-big-bang/281899/3 "2004-12-28T05:51:31Z")

</div>

> [@Strinka](#):
>
> IIf the universe is 13 some billion years old, why can’t we just look 13 billion light years away and see the Big Bang?

One of the problems with this is that until about 300,000 years follwing the Big Bang, the Universe was opaque to photons. As a result, we can never directly observe closer to the Bang than about 300,000 years. The Bang itself will be forever hidden from our view.