Do you think that the universe, meaning space, ever has an end?

Question

It's so scary to think that no matter how far out in the universe we travel, it might not ever end! how is that possible? i mean, everything has to end somewhere, right?

Answer 1

There is nothing called the end of the Universe. There are three possibilities of the shape of the Universe.

First, the Universe might have what we call positive curvature like a sphere. In this case, the Universe is called "closed" and it has a finite size but without a boundary, just like a baloon. In a closed Universe, you could, in principle, fly a spaceship far enough in one direction and get back to where you started from.

The second possibility is that the Universe is flat. This kind of Universe can be imagined by cutting out a piece of a baloon material and stretching it with your hands. The surface of the material is flat and not curved. You can expand and contract it by tugging on either end. Flat Universes are infinite in extent and have no boundaries.

Finally, the Universe might be "open" or have negative curvature. Such Universes are also infinite in spatial extent and have no boundaries.

Thus whatever be the shape of the Universe, there is nothing called a boundary and hence nothing called the edge or end of the Universe.

Answer 2

You ARE talking about the universe. It may be essentially spherical so there is no edge, but is finite. It is expanding, like a balloon. But when you blow up a balloon there is not more balloon, even though it is bigger. So there is more space between things. Edit: Oh, you are talking about the omniverse. We only suspect there are other universes but we know nothing about the details. Edit: The Milky Way is our galaxy and is a very tiny part of our universe. It is within the Virgo supercluster, which is still a small part of the universe. If there are other universes, I haven't heard anyone give an explanation of what is between them because "space" only exists within a universe. It might be that there is an area of gravity but no other forces, or there may be a type of force that doesn't exist within a universe but only outside of universes to keep them apart. Or maybe it has something to do with dark energy. We see how dark energy affects things within our universe, but we don't yet know what it is -- except that it's the thing that causes the effects that have been observed. We need a theory of quantum gravity. Scientists at CERN/LHC are working on it, but higher energies may be needed to get the needed data.

Answer 3

it's not really scary

just think of the Earth: because it is a closed sphere, anyone traveling on the surface (and having a boat handy if required) can travel for ever w/o encountering an "end".

of course, anyone able to leave the surface, i.e. the 2-dimensional space, would see the boundaries of the Earth

and of course, that person traveling for ever on the Earth may end up recognizing some features, because there are features, and the Earth is small.

but now instead of a tiny object, take the known universe, about 150 billion light years across, with features that are few and far between. Suppose it is a "sphere", i.e. our 3-dimensional space closes on itself just like the surface of a sphere closes on itself. Of course it would have to be a sphere in 4-dimensional space, i.e. it curves in a direction that is inaccessible to us (similar situation to that of a human being on the surface of the Earth, w/o access to an airplane / rocket).

Anyway, in that case, even if you had a fast space ship, you could travel "forward" for ever, and never come to any end. But, in 4-dimensional space, your universe would not have to be infinite at all.

of course now you'll ask, well fine, but then what would be "around" that unlimited (for us), but not infinite (for higher-dimensional beings), universe, in that 4-d space? To which I could answer that we cannot even comprehend the concept of "around" in more than 3 dimensions. Or that we have no clue ;-)


hope this helps

Answer 4

I don't mean to sound cute, but in my view, the universe has many ends.

One end is where your senses are right now. That is the point from where you are experiencing the universe right now. You are the centre of your universe....the start of the universe (I don't mean time, I do mean space). If you physically move your position, you are at a new start to your universe.

So, to you (and me, and everyone), the universe has one end, that is where you are right now. You will never reach the "other end" because the "other end" will be your new "start". We cannot conceive of an object that only has one end, that's why we can't conceive the universe.

Answer 5

That is a good question. Everything has an end but we believe when we see. Earlier people used to say earth is flat but with time we came to know it is round. It is same here we will have to wait and may be some day this question will be answered.

Answer 6

Some scientist prove that the dark matter in the universe is getting bigger so we can't really find out if the universe will stop growing so that we can find out if it has an end.

Answer 7

Anything that has had a beginning, will have an end.
The Universe never had a beginning, and so it will never have an end.
It is without beginning and without end and therefore it is Infinite

Answer 8

yeah...good point, the further we look, the further we see, and someday i believe science will find the edge. What that will be nobody knows but its gonna be a barrier no matter what...because we cant "leave" the universe, or so they say. so when this happens then what?

Answer 9

I have problems with that way of thinking...my mind can't grasp something continuing on forever.....but on the other hand...it also can't graps a giant wall in space..cause..whats on the other side of that wall? Nothing? then the wall would have to go on forever...

So, either way..my mind has to grasp the fact that SOMETHING out there has no end.

Answer 10

It should have an end but we will never see it.