There have also been some issues that older versions of this theory were nit able to account for, but that newer versions with more accurate high energy physics added in, now do a good job of predicting. Astronomers are not in the habit of getting snookered into wishful thinking, because the final arbiter of how good your idea is is whether it is verified by observation. If Big Bang cosmology does this, it is not the fault of astronomers, but an indication from nature that this is the way things were done. Big Bang theory may be replaced by a better theory just as Newton's classical mechanics were replaced by special relativity. But for now Big Bang cosmology is the one favored by the evidence we have at hand, and it is the one we have to go with until someone can construct a better theory that explains everything Big Bang theory now does, and more things that can be tested.
Astronomers have to be stubborn in order to be the proper advocates of different ideas.
The current controversy over the age of the universe will strengthen Big Bang cosmology which ever way it goes because this means that some new ingredient will have to be added such as a 'cosmological constant', or perhaps a change in how astronomers determine the ages of stars. Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald Return to Ask the Astronomer .