As the name implies, the big rip symbolizes all matter being ripped apart. The main rascal of this doomsday theory is dark energy. Yet to be proven, dark energy is hypothetical, and it is believed to be the culprit behind the universe's expansion. The theory is that this energy is pulling at the universes edges, making it expand. Worst case scenario in this theory is that as space is being pulled apart at an ever accelerating rate, the galaxies will be the first to be dismantled. Next will be the solar systems being disbanded since their gravitational force will no longer be able to defy the growing pull of dark energy, leaving everything just floating through space. With the planets following, theyll be torn away from their very core, and everything finally ending on an atomic scale as the nuclei are torn from their host atoms.
