2006-10-02 00:36:01 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
There are two forces acting on the stars in a galaxy. One is the expansion of space caused by the Big Bang, the other is gravity from other stars in the galaxy. Locally the latter is more stronger than the former.
Therefore the stars in a galaxy stay together, but the distances between galaxies becomes larger over time.
2006-10-02 00:44:09 · answer #1 · answered by cordefr 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Imagine you're in a room full of furniture, and the walls of that room start expanding outward. The furniture doesn't get any bigger to fill the now larger room, there's just more space for the furniture to fit in. This is how matter acts within an expanding universe.
What is also interesting, is that all the galaxies aren't moving away from a central point uniformly. They are all moving in different directions, some towards us, others away from us, and in all different directions.
There is only so much matter to fill the universe though. If it keeps expanding forever, the universe will end up a very dark, cold place. Just like a gigantic room with just a little bit of furniture looks very empty and sparse.
2006-10-02 01:43:36 · answer #2 · answered by lmn78744 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, galaxies are not expanding. As the universe expands the galaxies are getting farther apart, but the galaxies themselves are not expanding. Actually, the expansion is even larger scale than that. Clusters of galaxies are getting farther apart but the clusters themselves are not expanding. The Andromeda galaxy, which is the largest member of the local cluster of galaxies, is actually getting closer to the Milky Way and will collide with the Milky Way in the distant future.
2006-10-02 01:51:46 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes they're becoming larger. There is an increase with the interstellar medium among stars in a galaxy. When a galaxy's velocity in a galaxy cluster is faster than another galaxy, once it's gravitational influence reaches the other galaxy, galaxy merging is possible, creating a much larger single galaxy.
2006-10-02 00:45:06 · answer #4 · answered by airjordz 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. It is space that is expanding. The galaxies are gravitationally bound together. Our Milky Way Galaxy is gravitationally bound together with about 12 others, the largest of which is the "nearby" Andromeda Galaxy. Billions of years from now, our galaxy and the Andromeda will do a little dance together, causing the spiral arms of both galaxies to trigger new starbursts and creating millions of new stars.
It is space itself that is expanding. Everything in it just moves along with that expansion, called the "Hubble Flow." That is the reason why it's hard to measure the expansion of space nearby, because of the gravitational effects between galaxies. True Hubble Flow is measured way outside of our own galaxy, our local cluster, beyond the Virgo Cluster (which we are gravitationally attracted to) and beyond the Virgo Supercluster (a group of tens of thousands of galaxies which we are being drawn towards). None of this has to do with the expansion of space, it has to do with gravitational attraction.
2006-10-02 07:30:52 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Galaxies appear to mostly be moving farther apart but, there may be galaxies moving towards us that we don't know about yet. Some galaxies moving towards us may be from another Big Bang type event. Solar systems in galaxies appear to be held in orbit by a central mass that may be a black hole.
2006-10-02 05:26:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
according to big bang theory it is.the universe started as a very small particle nd it is expanding continuously.
2006-10-02 01:06:31 · answer #7 · answered by rockinsaint 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. space, and all matter is expanding!
2006-10-02 00:49:24 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No it's just the space between them that is.
2006-10-02 05:46:48 · answer #9 · answered by That one guy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. but the space between them is.
2006-10-02 00:43:09 · answer #10 · answered by Meow the cat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋