The universe is expanding, ok, so what is it expanding into?

Answer 1

this is actually a common misconception about the universe. the universe is finite yet has no center and no edge. space-time itself originated in the big bang so the big bang was the entire universe, and everywhere in the universe was once the big bang. the big bang was not an explosion of matter in empty space. the universe seems to be something like the two dimensional surface of a sphere, except it is four dimensional. nothing, not even space-time, exists "outside" the universe. to quote a dead writer, "there is no there, there".

look here:
http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0009F0CA-C523-1213-852383414B7F0147
http://universeadventure.org/
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni.html
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmo_01.htm

Answer 2

The universe is huge and possibly never ends. Some scientists think it will forever expand and all galaxies are just moving apart, while others think it will think it will slow down and eventually shrink back together until billions of years from now when verything collides into a giant ball of matter and gases. Most ideas about the universe as whole are just theories, because even the most powerful telescopes can only see so far into space and humans have only been around for a fraction of the age of the universe so we may never know the true nature of everything in it.

Answer 3

Something important to keep in mind with regards to this topic is how the curvature of space-time affects the "boundary" of the universe. Hawking famously stated "The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no boundary!" This can only be true if the curvature of space time increases to an extremely high value at the "edge". So, if you tried to fly directly out of the universe's "boundary", your path would be altered, though I imagine it would feel as if you were travelling in your intended direction.

We still can't tell if the universe will expand until it spreads itself infinitely thin and all stars and life eventually die (Open Universe), or if there will be a "big crunch" which would perhaps be a predecessor to an endless cycle of big bangs and big crunches (Closed Universe). It has to to with the Omega ratio, which concerns the average density of mass in the universe. If Omega <1, things spread thinner and thinner. If Omega>1 then there is enough mass to stop the expansion. As far as we can tell it seems to be exactly (or very near) 1! This third option would mean the expansion rate of the universe would forever slow down but never end, remaining in a delicate balance for eternity.

Answer 4

No one knows, that's the thing. Scientists can estimate the size of what they call the "observable universe" because the entire thing is too large to see all of it. We have no idea how big the entire universe actually is or what shape it is. We do know that it is expanding however.

Ever hear a motorcycle drive by and notice that as it passes you and is moving away, the sound of it seems lower? That's called the doppler effect. It has to deal with the frequency of the sound wave that's travelling at you. If an object that's emitting a wave is moving, that will change the frequency. Same thing happens with light. Astronomers are able to look at astronomical bodies and tell by the light that they are transmitting that these bodies are all moving away. In fact, nearly all of the objects they can see are moving away from us, this is how they know the universe is expanding.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

What we have here is just another example of mathematical description being near impossible to translate into words. "The universe is expanding" is closest, but still not at all near what the math means, and if you take "The universe is expanding" literally, you get this kind of problem. It would be almost as true to say "Everything in the universe, including the speed of light, is shrinking," which would make distances seem to be increasing.

Answer 6

Nothing. If there were something to expand into, it would be part of the universe. The universe is simply getting bigger in the sense that the observable horizon is moving away from us and everything between us and the horizon is also moving away, at a rate that depends on distance.

Answer 7

See the 'Search for questions:' box above? Type in something like "expanding universe" and you'll find that your question has been asked about 1 gazillion times already. And among all the answers you'll not find a single one that can give you a SCIENTIFIC ANSWER. Anybody that tries to tell you something other than "not known" is doing nothing more than blowin' smoke.

Answer 8

Once upon a time, 20 billions of years ago, all matter
(all elementary particles and all quarks and
their girlfriends- antiparticles and antiquarks,
all kinds of waves: electromagnetic, gravitational,
muons… gluons field ….. etc.) – was assembled in a “single point”.
It is interesting to think about what had surrounded the “single point”.
The answer is :
EMPTINESS- NOTHING….!!!
Ok!
But why does everyone speak about EMPTINESS- NOTHING in
common phrases rather than in specific, concrete terms?
I wonder why nobody has written down this EMPTINESS- NOTHING in
the form of a physical formula ? You see, every schoolboy knows that
is possible to express the EMPTINESS- NOTHING condition
by the formula T=0K.
* * *
Once there was a “Big Bang”.
But in what space had the Big Bang taken place
and in what space was the matter of the Big Bang distributed?
Not in T=0K?
It is clear, that there is only EMPTINESS, NOTHING, in T=0K.
Now consider that the Universe, as an absolute frame of reference is
in a condition of T = 2,7K (rests relic radiation of the Big Bang ).
But, the relic radiation is extended and in the future will change and decrease.
What temperature can this radiation reach?
Not T=0K?
Hence, if we go into the past or into the present or into the future,
we can not escape from EMPTINESS- NOTHING T=0K.
Therefore it is necessary to begin to think from T=0K.

Answer 9

You're thinking about it the wrong way. Physical dimensions (height, breadth, length) are a property of the universe. The dimensions grow, but not into anything. To say that the universe grows into what-lies-beyond implies that what-lies-beyond has the same properties as the universe. It's a different animal altogether, and confusing as hell to wrap your head around.

Answer 10

nothing just moving away from each other. i don't believe expanding..... if it expands here, it should contract there........ balance should be there after all.