the fact that space has no known top or bottom, and no known sides, and seems limitless
2006-08-19 06:27:58 · 39 answers · asked by Brutal_Yet_Beautiful 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
But remember it's not limitless, space, the universe itself has a certain size, several billions of light years.
One thing that has always intrigued me is what is there beyond those limits.. That is what i find scary
What do you think??
2006-08-19 06:33:44 · answer #1 · answered by Christian D 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I find I am more facinated with this than frightened. I am amazed at how something is so big and so expansive... yet there is a limit to this...
Our "visible" limit (how far away we can see) is roughly 10 or 12 billion light-years away. Light travels only so fast and the further away the object is we are viewing (humans need light to see an object) the longer it takes the light to reach us. Light is actually travelling pretty quick (at 300,000 kilometers per second) yet it takes a very long time for the light to actually reach us.
For instance the Andromeda galaxy is two million light years from us, meaning it takes 2 million years for light from Andromeda to reach us. THAT is a long time. For all we know Andromeda may no longer be there anymore, but we won't know for another two million years.
We are surrounded by a "horizon" that we can't look beyond—a horizon set by the distance that light can travel over the age of the universe.
This horizon describes the visible universe—a region some 28 billion light years in diameter.
The universe iteself is believed to be vastly larger than this and still expanding!
2006-08-19 07:07:13 · answer #2 · answered by Krynne 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, but it does make for a surreal sensation to consider that people seem so small and insignificant in a "space" without known boundaries while simultaneously considering how significant we actually are to be able to comprhend the very idea of a "space" w/out known boundaries.
Try reading Steven Hawking's Universe sometime. Really amazing man with some ideas that will probably blow you away.
2006-08-19 07:00:32 · answer #3 · answered by randyken 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that is kind of scary. What's even scarier is the fact that, in sci-fi movies, spaceships always meet each other right side up. If space is a 3D....uh...space, then wouldn't the Enterprise and another ship rarely ever happen to be "right side up" when they meet?
2006-08-19 15:10:23 · answer #4 · answered by brainzrgood4u 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like death, there's nothing you can do about it so, any worrying about it is wasted effort.
Unlike death, limitless space provides us with limitless opportunities to kill ourselves exploring it. Imagine strapping yourself to a rocket and blasting off towards nothing with pieces of your rocket falling off as you leave the earth's surface.
2006-08-19 07:24:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not at all. It's hubris to believe that the universe should conform to our desires so as to avoid making us feel afraid or insecure.
"The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent, but if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light." -- Stanley Kubrick
2006-08-19 12:35:47 · answer #6 · answered by R[̲̅ə̲̅٨̲̅٥̲̅٦̲̅]ution 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Silly youth... it IS limitless.
It is the universe... the all encompassing; it always was and it always will be, dynamically ever-changing, an inanimate collection of matter and energy reacting and interacting on itself, neither gaining nor losing anything of itself - but just being, infinitely, according to its own set of laws. It has neither life nor intelligence of its own and yet it contains and supports both. It is a vast thing, a place and nothing more.
And... No it isn't scary, it's phenomenally fascinating... it's your home.
[][][] r u randy? [][][]
2006-08-19 06:39:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow, I never thought of it like that. Now I have more to ponder about in life. That is scary and also philosophical. What if we are actually in a big giant jar or we are one big giant atom but considered specks to the giants out there. See, I told you I am crazy and now I have A LOT more to think about.
2006-08-19 06:35:04 · answer #8 · answered by Sapphire 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It does have limits and boundaries, however the nature of space, according to those whose equipment allows them to hear the echoes of the Big Bang (shove that in your creationist pipes and smoke it) can roughly extrapolate the size of the universe.
The reason it has no actual physical boundaries is because space folds in on itself.
2006-08-19 06:35:57 · answer #9 · answered by relentless_behaviour 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like the very definition of space.
2006-08-19 06:32:46 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋