Hi all.

Sadly I am one of those long time lurkers that never posts - a fear of ridiculing myself on the forums I suggest.

Anyway I am wondering (and this has probably been raised before) if the Big Bang theory and the Theory or Principal of the Speed of Light being the fastest known speed are compatible.

By that, it is suggested that the fastest known speed obtainable is the speed of light. Yet, if one examines the Big Bang theory, in the first few moments of the creation or existance of the universe, the "explosion" was such that matter expanded so rapidly that it exceeded the speed of light (at least that is my understanding - the words "that it exceeded the speed of light" are my own).

I have not had time to research what the scientists believe was the speed of the universe expanding in the initial phases, however am perhaps throwing this out more as a general question (if in fact there is any inconsistency). It may well be that the Big Bang theory does not contradict the speed of light being the fastest known speed, in that the universe expanded close to the speed of light.