I'm not talking about nearby stars or galaxies. Light speed and stuff, I understand. It takes time for light to travel the distance. I'm talking about billions of light years here all the way to when the Universe was first created.
According to the Big Bang, everything originated from a single point in the Universe and spread out from there. So unless we've been spreading at the speed of light (not possible) the light that originated from the Big Bang already passed us a long time ago. Why is the observable universe 14.5 billion light years? (approximate age of the Universe, could be wrong on that number) The diameter of the universe can't be that big unless we've been spreading at least half the speed of light since the Big Bang.
Shouldn't there be a limit on how far back in time we can see? I mean since we have a calculation as to how fast the universe is expanding and the age of the universe, it should be fairly simple to calculate how far back in time we can see.
2006-09-11 06:36:38 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The problem is that although nothing in the Universe can travel faster than the speed of light, the Universe itself is perfectly happy to expand at greater than the speed of light according to certain theories. In particular, one theory of cosmic inflation suggests that the Universe expanded from the size of a marble to greater than the size of the visible Universe in the first 10^-12 seconds of its existence. As a result, we can indeed be a greater distance from an object than the distance light has been able to travel during the Universe's lifetime.
2006-09-11 06:41:38 · answer #1 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The current state of technology limits how far we can see. The farther we can see, the closer we get to seeing what is going on right now and where distant stars actually are. Right now, we can only see where they used to be meaning that our technology is very limited, not meaning that we can now see back in time. Obviously, the stars we see 15 billion light years away have been moving away for 15 billion light years and even the observable universe is much bigger than what we can see. We are not looking back into time or ahead in time. Light speed is not time. It's just a unit of measurement that we are using. Time is a yardstick that we have created to measure things. It is not another dimension or thing that exists in the universe. If man doesn't exist, time doesn't exist and there are only events that are growing increasingly random in nature.
The other problem is that we have observed light being bent by the gravity of large objects. A line between two points with a bend in it is longer than a straight line. This means that, however imperceptively, the light just now reaching us from 15 billion light years away has been bent billions, maybe trillions, of times as it has passed even pieces of cosmic dust before it gets to us. We really have no idea where anything is or how far away it is.
2006-09-11 07:29:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I honestly dislike to point it out, but your question is flawed. "...the big bang centre of origin..." The universe has no center or center of origin. Before the Big Bang event there was nothing -- no spacetime, energy, or matter. At the instant of the Big Bang ALL the space (universe)that would ever be began. It happened everywhere at once, thus is without a center. "...Its not possible to actually see the light from the big bang as this light would already have passed far beyond us..." Actually the entire universe, including Earth, is bathed in the 'light' from the Big Bang. It's in the form of thermal radiation and requires extremely sensitive and specialized equipment to detect, but it's there. Astronomers call it the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) and has a temperature of - 454 degrees Fahrenheit. "...as the universe expanded it did so slower than the speed of light..." Immediately after the Big Bang, the universe went through a brief period of expansion that actually EXCEEDED the speed of light (..this doesn't violate relativity because it was space that expanded faster than the speed of light) This momentary expansion period is called 'inflation' and is consistent with many of the features we observe in the universe of today. Hope this helps untangle a little bit your musings about the universe.
2016-03-17 12:27:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its not a question as why didn't the light pass us, because it already has. Its more like when will the light stop. For instance, lets say that today we first see the light from a star that formed 14 billion years ago, a long long time in some galaxy far far away (Sorry George). We would continue to see that light from that same star every day into the future until the star it is originating from eventually dies out or goes super nova.
2006-09-11 06:43:29 · answer #4 · answered by T F 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The universe is also expanding while the light is trying to reach us. Also, many of the objects we see didn't start shining for some time after the big bang. The original noise from the big bang can be heard because it probably has traveled past us on prior occasions. Don't forget the universe bends back on itself like a ball, so that light traveling in one direction will eventually return to its point of origin.
2006-09-11 06:45:35 · answer #5 · answered by The Man 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do you suppose that the diameter of the Universe "can't be that big"? Why do you suppose that the Hubble Constant and the age of the Universe derived from it are miscalculated? That is the best estimate science can give us. Secondly, our instruments can not look that far back. Look at the latest pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope deep field, those galaxies are only the youngest that are detectable with the present state of our technology.
2006-09-11 06:51:23 · answer #6 · answered by jorge f 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Other parts of the universe went the opposite way from the big bang than we did. It's like you're on a train from Chicago going east and your friend is on a train from Chicago going west. after 2 hours of travel for both of you, you are 4 hours apart.
2006-09-11 06:43:27 · answer #7 · answered by Dennis K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi, I know this doesn't pertain to your question, it's in regards to your answer to one of my questions. I would e-mail you, but you don't have your account set up for people to send you a message.
If you REALLY do work for JPL, I'd appreciate any opportunity to speak with you about your experience with working at NASA and your answers would be completely anonymous. I am very passionate and enthusiastic about this thesis topic I'm working on. Any information you could provide me with would be of great value toward my research. If you decide to message me, please e-mail me at bettescorpio@yahoo.com. Thanks a bunch in advance! =)
2006-09-11 17:28:05 · answer #8 · answered by Apple Pie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The big bang was particles and energy, it took billions of years for celestial bodies to form and give off light.
2006-09-11 06:39:13 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a jungle out there. Too many theories and too many discrepancies. It is time to clean up this mess.
2006-09-11 07:05:52 · answer #10 · answered by Dr M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋