what is it?
2006-12-03 13:16:50 · 3 answers · asked by im quaint 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Think of throwing Jacks out before you grab them up. Only the Universe was thrown out in the Big Bang explosion that made it. There isn't enough gravity to pull the Universe 'back together' so it just keeps going and going, faster, picking up speed all the time. Not normal speed as we think of it either, but we are talking in terms of super-accelerated speeds. Speeds that send Doppler shifts off the Charts, technically (seeming) impossible speeds.
2006-12-03 13:26:34 · answer #1 · answered by AdamKadmon 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is this value called by the Greek letter lambda that is called the cosmological constant. It is an equation that balances the expanding force of the universe against the pull of gravity trying to stop the expansion. If the constant is zero, the universe is flat and will continue to expand at an ever slowing rate but never quite stop. If it's less than zero, the universe is closed and will collapse onto itself. The value of lambda is currently measured to greater than zero and seems to be increasing in value, meaning that there is not enough matter in the universe to hold it together, it is open and will continue to expand forever and burn out.
2006-12-03 13:22:10 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When the light from far away galaxies are analyzed, they exhibit a definite red shift in their frequency - this is believed to be due to the Doppler effect and indicates that these galaxies are moving away from us at tremendous velocities. Shortly after it was discovered that this velocity of expansion was directly related to the distances - the Big Bang theory gained a lot of support.
2006-12-03 13:26:18 · answer #3 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋