[Closed] The Scale of the universe (2)

impressive and certainly shows us how insignificant we are.

It's good, but it made me want to strangle a choir!

What males anyone think the universe has a size? I mean, whats stopping it / the walls of the universe? Why couldn't it be infinate?

"Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space

without doubt the only important thing in that (at least of any significance to STW) is Russell's Teapot

There are few threads that can't be improved with a good Douglas Adams quote.

(That's two today, good work)

As the sky at night is mainly black, space can't be infinite, otherwise it would be all starry white due to the infinite number of stars.

There are few threads that can't be depreciated with a good idiot.

What males anyone think the universe has a size? I mean, whats stopping it / the walls of the universe? Why couldn't it be infinate?

it's been expanding at a finite speed for a finite time, therefore it's size is finite.

still really really big though...

As the sky at night is mainly black, space can't be infinite, otherwise it would be all starry white due to the infinite number of stars.

What if that light hasnt got here yet?

plop_pants - Member

As the sky at night is mainly black, space can't be infinite, otherwise it would be all starry white due to the infinite number of stars.

Only if it had existed for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Amen.

As the sky at night is mainly black, space can't be infinite, otherwise it would be all starry white due to the infinite number of stars.

As the sky at night is mainly black, space can't be infinite, otherwise it would be all starry white due to the infinite number of stars.

Well, actually it is... okay, it's not starry white and there aren't an infinite number of planets, but the 'light' from the big bang/stars is there all across the sky. It's just that this light is from so long ago, and we are accelerating that the light has been doppler shifted back into the far infra-red part of the spectrum. This light can be detected, and is known as the Cosmic Background radiation, and it's essentially constant in whichever direction you look.

There is no container. The size of the universe is finite but growing all the time. Growing in the sense that the space between the galaxies is, on average, getting bigger. Beyond the finite universe there is nothing; there is no space; there is no beyond.

Gomez's hamburger was a highlight for me

As the sky at night is mainly black, space can't be infinite, otherwise it would be all starry white due to the infinite number of stars.

Not necessarily, because less bright stars are in the way of, and block the light from, brighter ones further away. 😛

Beyond the finite universe there is nothing; there is no space; there is no beyond.

I was once lucky enough to have a 5" telescope to play with one clear night. Not sure I'd agree with "mostly black". The amount of stars I could see was staggering. Many, many, many times more than you can see with the naked eye.

I wish everyone had the opportunity to do this - it's quite breathtaking.

(This proves nothing about the size of the universe, of course).

So - what is the universe expanding into?

So - what is the universe expanding into?

Whatever is the cool niche.

29ertrackuniverse seems to be hot right now.

What is the universe rotating round ? That must be one big 'something'.

Are there any other universes also rotating round it ?

And is there any chance that our universe might collide with another universe ?

I think we should be told.

Good questions there earnie, suppose it might be plausible that if there are universes then there is also the possibility the the might behave like atoms, planets, solar systems etc that they do orbit something. Or it could just be a completely different set of physics.

Not sure the universe is supposed to be rotating around anything? But

could just be a completely different set of physics.

Someone more knowledgeable will be along in a minute I expect, but as I understand it, our current laws of physics don't work well at very very very small scales. So perhaps the same might be true at very very very large scales?

And here's an idea - imagine another universe made entirely of particles that do not interact with the particles our universe is made of. It could be sharing the same space with us, and we'd never know.

here is also the possibility the the might behave like atoms

I see, our universe might be like a an electron whizzing round a nucleus.

I'm getting the distinct impression that there might be something very big out there.

And it would be nice to get to the bottom of it ..... I would really like to know if our universe is just a bit of an atom which is a fragment of a molecule of something bigger which a small part of something else.

Not sure the universe is supposed to be rotating around anything?

Surely it makes sense that if it's rotating then it is probably rotating round something else ?

[url= http://setyoufree-news.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-universe-rotates-around-its-axis-of.html ]Our Universe rotates around its 'axis of evil'[/url]

So - what is the universe expanding into?

It isn't expanding into anything. There is nothing to expand into. In the universe we can measure the distance between two galaxies. And over time we can measure a greater distance - space between the galaxies is growing.

Look at this amazing gravitation lensing image. All the weird looking stuff in rings is a galaxy behind the cluster in the middle. The cluster lenses the light from the concealed galaxy so we see it encircling the cluster and repeated multiple times.

[img] [/img]

buzz-lightyear - Member

So - what is the universe expanding into?

It isn't expanding into anything. There is nothing to expand into.

So what's beyond infinity then ?

[img] [/img]