The universe may have not started from something small; like an atom. Maybe it started from something bigger?

As I was riding around town, I came up with an idea about the big bang. Yes, the big bang that is said to have created the universe; no less.

Astronomers might dispute my intuitive hunch and they are free to respond, if any of them are reading this.

Most astronomers seem to think the universe started as an infinitely (or near infinitely) dense. tiny speck. All the universe crammed into a little speck that has since been expanding to the present universe.

I thought, maybe it wasn't just a speck. How about something larger that's still at the very start of space and time? Something larger that still popped into existence. Space still expanded and time started with the universe as lots of astronomers think, but the start was bigger than a speck.

It still came from "who knows," but at the start, it was just something larger than a tiny speck. This would eliminate the need to invoke infinity, or near infinite density; a troublesome concept.

Astronomers have, basically, had to patch up the concept of the universe starting as a speck. That patch is called "inflation theory." One of our most important forms of evidence, about the big bang, is the cosmic background radiation. Microwave radiation that permeates the universe. It's said to originate from the primordial fireball (for lack of a better term). Detecting that background radiation is like measuring the heat from that fireball when it was around 300,000 years after the very start. By then, the universe is said to be many lightyears across.

Astronomers scratch their heads wondering how that fireball, which by then was many lightyears across, could remain so consistent in character. It's nature, temperature and so forth is pretty consistent in every direction. This is measured by looking at the microwave background radiation across the entire sky.

I think our best satellite, that takes the temperature of this radiation, is the European Space Agency's Plank Satellite. It measures only very slight differences, across the sky, in the temperature of this radiation.

Such consistency, supposedly, cannot happen across many light years so that is one reason why they say that the very start had to be a smaller speck.

To solve this problem, they came up with "inflation theory." The universe started as a speck and then bounded out faster than the speed of light during an early period of inflation that may have only lasted mere seconds.

Yes, they say the universe, itself (space and time) can travel faster than light, but things inside the universe cannot travel faster than light. The universe, itself, can break it's own rules.

Well, I just got to thinking, maybe the universe started as a larger space. A giant neutron star, for instance. It didn't need to have inflation. It just popped into existence as a larger object that was still consistent in temperature. Consistant from some unknown reason still not explained. Rather than Inflation Theory, some other mechanism could have led to consistency of temperature across a larger object that was the start of the universe.

Who knows, I am sure astronomers would poke plenty of holes in my speculation, if any of them were reading this.

Now I am remembering that I may have seen this idea somewhere in the science media so it's not necessarily my idea.

Here is a similar idea I remember hearing for sure.

Maybe the center of a blackhole is not a singularity of infinite density. Some scientists have said that center was infinite density (a singularity) just because we know of no force strong enough to push back and counteract gravity in that situation. The math just goes toward infinity then.

On the other hand, I've heard some scientists say that maybe there is something that does provide the "pushback" preventing the blackhole from going all the way to a singularity.

A reason why they say this might be true is that something "pushed" the universe, itself, out to the original big bang to begin with. It pushed the universe out in spite of great density at that time. Maybe that same thing is providing the "push" to keep a blackhole in equilibrium. Maybe at the center of a blackhole, there is a sphere of some kind; like a slightly smaller version of a neutron star.

This, I didn't make up. I read, or heard, it somewhere.