Does space ever end? Surely it can't keep going endlessly!!?

Answer 1

To find out whether there is an end or an edge to the universe we first need to know what is the shape of the universe.

Most astronomers would like to know the shape of the universe too! There are three general possibilities. First, like your balloon, the universe might have what we call positive curvature, like a sphere. In this case, which we call a "closed" universe, the universe would be finite in size but without a boundary, just like the balloon. In a closed universe, you could, in principle, fly a spaceship far enough in one direction and get back to where you started from. Closed universes are also closed in time: they eventually stop expanding, then contract in a "Big Crunch." All the geometry that is true on a sphere is also true in a closed unvierse: parallel lines eventually converge (e.g. longitude lines are parallel at the equator, but converge at the poles), large triangles have more than 180 degrees, etc.

The second possibility is that the universe is flat. This kind of universe you can imagine by cutting out a piece of your baloon material and stretching it with your hands. The surface of the material is flat, not curved, but you can expand and contract it by tugging on either end. Flat universes are infinite in spatial extent, and have no boundaries. Parallel lines are always parallel and triangles always have 180 degrees. Flat universes expand forever, but the expansion rate approaches zero.

Finally, the universe might be "open," or have negative curvature. Such universes are sort of saddle-shaped. They are also infinite and unbounded. Parellel lines eventually diverge, and triangles have less than 180 degrees. Open universes expand forever, with the expansion rate never approaching zero.

What determines the shape of the universe is its density (and the Cosmological Constant, a sort of anti-gravity force allowed by General Relativity). It is difficult to figure out what the density of the universe actually is, but it seems that the universe is probably flat.

Answer 2

Space is the distance between objects. Before the big bang, where there were no objects, space did not exist. There is no 'space' that the universe expands into - it creates the space as it expands. You can see this by thinking about how we measure space - it's the distance from the Earth to the Moon, or the Earth to the Sun, or our Solar System to the next one, etc. But if these objects didn't exist, how could you measure space? In a totally empty universe, the concept of space has no meaning. It's like trying to find the beginning or end of a sphere. Or what's north of the North Pole? The question breaks down. The same with space before there were objects to measure any space with. And also like the surface of a sphere, the universe is finite, but unbounded. A sphere is only so big, but has no beginning or end point. But while a sphere is two-dimensional, the universe is at least three (and probably more, according to string theory). So while the surface of the sphere is unbounded but finite, a three-dimensional universe is also unbounded, but finite. As it expands, it creates more space, but there is nothing 'outside' of it. Again, the question has no meaning, like asking what's outside of 'red', for example.

Answer 3

OK. The first thing that is mind boggling is this:

The space (not the actual Universe, but the 3-dimensional room for the Universe to expand in), just like time, according to the physicists, was created in the Big Bang. There is no space beyond the Universe, at least not the one you can move in. That is why if you would fly in one direction , you would come out of the other "end" of the Universe.

But anyway this travel is impossible, because, according to Einstein's theory, although nothing can move faster than light, that does not concern the borders of the Universe, or, more like, expansion of the matter. As far as I know moves actually faster than light, and as you are not an expanding matter, the law applies to you. you wouldn't be able to even reach the boarder.

Another thing is, that the Universe is still expanding, creating the space for itself. That is a second reason why it is called endless. You can't actually put a finger on it's border, because a second later it's far away...

Answer 4

Does Space Ever End

Answer 5

There is a place where matter ends. This is probably what you could classify as the end of space. However it would not slow down or contain the expansion process that the universe is going through.
So I'd say yes space ends, And yes it can go on for ever.

Answer 6

Think of space like the surface of a balloon. It is finite, but you can never reach an end. If you traveled all the way around, so much time would have gone by, even at the speed of light, it wouldn't be the same place anymore anyway.

Answer 7

The question is one of philosophy. In terms of the physical universe, the further and further we look out, the galaxies we see are receding from us (that's actually a misstatement by the way. All space is expanding so no matter what our vantage point would be, we'd see everything receding from us) and they are receding at greater and greater velocities the further away they are. If this holds true all over the universe, then at some point, the universe could no longer exist, using the present relativistic model, as the speeds of recession would exceed the velocity of light-----a no,no in relativity theory.

Another interesting idea is that space time itself is curved, That yields what would be an infinite universe in a finite volume, as at the outer limits of detection, the universe would be filled with an infinite number of what we would perceive as galaxies with infinitesimal thickness. Also, gravitational fields DO curve space/time. That's one of the consequences of relativity, (and also conveniently explains black holes. Rather than being mysterious entities, they are simply accretions of matter so dense that they curve space time completely around themselves and are, in effect, no longer in our universe, but in a universe all their own.)

So, it's all in the way you look at it.

Answer 8

Some scientists say that space is like a soccer ball and that when you reach an end you go to the opposite of this end.

Answer 9

this is one of the most controversial issues
i belive the universe could expand forever and it would be expsnding into nothing
i belive this because the univers is a ball of stuff held together by a gravitaional pull and there is nothing out side of this pull
the only problem is the universe would become so large it would colapse in on itself
now scientits belive the universe has just started to shrink (this is different then collapsing though) because this is less dramatic and controlled

Answer 10

yes space has an end in fact,but it is in constant expanding due to the effect of what is known as the black matter effect,read einstien's balck matter for more information about that,and since it is expanding in an epic speed many times more the speed of light at the edges of the universe,we can never reach the end of the universe,since we can not travel untill now beyond the speed of light.so in our concept of understanding the universe has no end to it,since it always keeps on constant expanding...good luck to u.