2006-09-11 03:47:08 · 13 answers · asked by mjboy1976 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The universe can expand without expanding "into" anything.
Suppose it were infinite---then it could expand and it would still be infinite. There would be no "outside".
One scientific guess is that the "Big Bang", the part of the Universe we are in, may be expanding into a much larger space that possibly has other "Big Bangs" in it. Because of inflation in the very early Big Bang, the part that is "our Big Bang" is now more than 10^50 lightyears across. The "space" it is expanding into would be the space in which the initial quantum fluctuation took place.
2006-09-11 03:58:42 · answer #1 · answered by cosmo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The universe is expanding without expanding into anything at all.
Its just an expansion of space; yes space itself is expanding , its beyond the realm of physics probably to ask what is outside this space or rather the universe itself. Frankly no one knows for sure.
All that we have been able to garner since Edwin Hubble is that galaxies are running away from each other leaving many prominent scientists to infer that the universe is expanding.
We still are not sure of the precise nature of this expansion.
The universe is expanding , this expansion consists of spatial dimensions , and hence the universe is not expanding inside space ,rather the space itself is expanding.
2006-09-11 11:39:34 · answer #2 · answered by venkat Subramaniam 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A higher dimension (I think)
Imagine an ant crawling on a balloon (also, imagine the ant doesn't understand 'up' or 'down'). This is an infinite two-dimensional world in three-dimensional space. As the balloon expands, the 'flat' world expands into the third dimension.
So I suppose our Universe is expanding into the fifth dimension (space-time having four). Or something. My brain hurts now.
2006-09-11 12:04:03 · answer #3 · answered by ThePeter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing, like previously said. New space is being created. Sorta like where does time from tomorrow expand into? Nowhere, it just appears. Time is created. (Although you could argue it displaces today and becomes the present. But that's not true because the events of today happened on this day and not any other time. The events of tomorrow will happen tomorrow at its own time.)
2006-09-12 13:59:32 · answer #4 · answered by mmmodem123 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The universe might have started as darkmatter that slowly clumped some of itself together to form the universe. Perhaps the universe is expanding into this dark matter.
2006-09-11 11:29:35 · answer #5 · answered by sierrasurfer3 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Spacetime is a property of the Universe. Asking what space is outside space is meaningless.
2006-09-11 11:23:44 · answer #6 · answered by poorcocoboiboi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My understanding of this is that new space is being created; otherwise, you are right, what is space expanding into?
2006-09-11 10:50:50 · answer #7 · answered by bruinfan 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The infinite cloud of cosmic dust which preceded the planets, stars, and galxies and is the fuel for its continued existence.
2006-09-11 15:12:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I F it is expanding (I doubt it), then there is no "into", because I F there is a borderline and a beyond, then we just don't know, what is there beyond, we don't have any definition for this.
2006-09-11 12:11:40 · answer #9 · answered by jhstha 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
hey dude,
u just imagine if u r blowing a balloon how much it can expand,
when it will reach its maxicity it will boom!
our universe is like a balloon when it will reach its maxicity it will blast.
2006-09-11 11:20:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋