What on earth is at the edge of the universe?

Question

And if there is no edge, how can that be?! This is driving me nuts, everytime i think about this, my brain starts to hurt.

How can there be an EDGE to the universe, and what is beyond that EDGE. If there is no EDGE, then what the heck!? How can one "thing" expand forever into nothing? Also, how do we know there is no edge? I guess we don't, this is just a theory, but how do people honestly try and back up such a bizarre theory that SOMEthing goes on forever. Surely then it isn't something, but nothing?

As you can see, i'm quite confused. Any help will really help!

Cheerio!

Answer 1

At this point the edge is just the extent to what we can see, I personally don't think there is an end to it.

Here is a web page that shows everything we're able to see.

http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/universe.html

Answer 2

currently the edge is as far as we can see, beyond that is the material that forms the outer edge of the expanding universe, some theories say this is 'the edge' and that it is creating an ever expanding edge of space as it goes. there is a point beyond which we cannot see because everything was so jumbled up there was nothing to see. however, i believe the latest hypotheses suggest that this material is expanding into a larger area of space ie infinity, and that therefore, there is no edge.
there are other hypotheses that suggest that the universe is not as big as we think, ie that the huge amount of stars we see might be reflections ie the universe is doughnut shaped and when we see into it we are looking along its curved length and back past ourselves, therefore seeing many more stars than actually exist.
of course this isn't the real problem, which is that if the universe is expanding into nothing, then surely even nothing must be measureable in feet and inches? which creates the problem of an edge ie the inch after the last inch etc. then again, if there really is absolutely nothing, then you can't measure it because to measure it you would have to introduce something ie your ruler, so you would never know if a measureable 'nothing' existed beyond what you were measuring...
oh yes and while you're at it don't forget that there may be as many or more than eleven dimensions too, just to really screw us up!

Answer 3

There is no edge. There IS an 'edge' where the expansion of intrastellar 'debris' is expanding, but farther out than that is nothing, just empty space. There is nothing there, no matter, no light, nothing.
It is a human mental weakness that says everything must have a beginning and an end, a center and an edge, a heaven and hell, black or white, yes or no, good or bad, right or wrong. This is because the human mind, though great it can be, is not infinite. Something that is finite cannot comprehend something that is not.
But in the end, WHY does there have to be something? Can't space outside out expanding universe just be plain old empty? What's wrong with empty?

Answer 4

You are asking the questions that bother many who do physics. The universe "edge" is a curved surface that folds back on itself and is expanding. It is impossible to actually approach the edge. In regards to how you prove all this, it a bit more simple. Out of the equations that model these theories, predictions of behaviour come out. These can be proven in many ways. The current theory is pretty good. It explains about 99.999 percent of everything. On the basis of this, if the theory and maths are holding up, it is likely the predictions of the edge of the universe are right.

Answer 5

One of the theories on the state of the universe encorporates five dimensions. The universe as we know it floats in this fifth dimension in a structure called a bane. The universe though is not alone there are other universes also in the fifth dimension, and it is the reaction of two universes meeting and interacting that scientists believe caused the big bang (ie they compress each other into a tiny space before moving away again and the two grow rapidly).
Because the universe is believed to exist in this fifth dimension there is no finite edge just an emptiness that is the fifth dimension containing other universes.

Answer 6

There's no edge. If you accept all past and present theory, then the Universe is a constantly expanding (equidistant) container.
That would suggest that there is a "barrier" marking the circumference of a sphere.
If so, whatever is outside it is "something".

Even Nothing is Something.

Aside from that - SPACE IS BIG
Pers

Answer 7

there is actually no edge to the universe. The universe is curved like the surface of a basketball (an analogy my physics teacher came up with). The expansion of the universe is merely the inflating of the ball. There is nothing "outside" the universe, distance inside is simply getting larger.

Answer 8

i very much doubt we will ever know what is at the end of the universe. and if it has no edge then it is infinite. it appears to be the concept of infinity that you are having trouble getting your head round.
the reason that i doubt we will ever find an edge to the universe is due to the speed with which it is expanding. it would be impossible to ever "catch" the universes edge so why worry about it.....
this is more a question of philosophy than physics.

Answer 9

No one knows as yet where is the edge!
I understand your anxiety and perplexity. I will try to give you a small example. Suppose there is a gigantic hollow sphere say dia equal to length of a foot ball field. Now you release an ant in to this sphere. Because of gigantic size of the sphere the ant will never be able to conceive the size of the sphere and where ever he goes he will come back to the same spot and feel really perplexed. I know the example is not one to one to our question but it explains it to a certain extent.

Answer 10

We are used to things having limits.The idea of anything having no limits is therefore difficult to comprehend.Logically the only thing that can have no limits is nothing.If we imagine space as nothing..a vacuum..with objects,planets,here and there,it becomes easier to imagine.Often we humans see in context of our knowledge,so the greater our understanding of all things the more we can comprehend..even if it is only by a different way of looking at something.