WHAT if there was an entire universe that existed before the Big Bang?

This is the theory of a leading Oxford University scientist who claims to have evidence of stars and galaxies that existed long before the universe as we know it formed, The Daily Mail reported.

Professor Roger Penrose says that cosmic radiation discovered by one of NASA's telescopes is older than the Big Bang.

The researcher shows that the cosmic radiation background (CMB) formed in concentric circles that had cooled to a temperature of -270C over the 14 billion years since the universe came into being.

Prof Penrose and his colleague Professor Vahe Gurzadyan of the Yerevan State University in Armenia claim to have 12 examples of the circles, some of which have five rings - meaning that the objects had five massive events in their history.

The rings appear around clusters of galaxy where the background radiation is incredibly low.

The scientists believe the circles are imprints of violent gravitational forces generated by black holes that existed long before the Big Bang.

The research casts doubt upon the widely-held theory that the universe has continued to expand since the Big Bang and will continue to do so until it ceases to exist.

Prof Penrose says that his research shows that all matter in the universe will eventually be consumed by black holes, leaving only energy behind which will in turn trigger the next Big Bang.

"In the scheme that I'm proposing, you have an exponential expansion but it's not in our aeon - I use the term to describe [the period] from our Big Bang until the remote future," Prof Penrose told the BBC.

"I claim that this aeon is one of a succession of such things, where the remote future of the previous aeons somehow becomes the Big Bang of our aeon."

