does the universe really go on forever and ever or does it stop? or is it a circle that just continues?
2006-12-20 12:27:32 · 39 answers · asked by damn straight shortie 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It is as big as God created it! He alone knows the answer!
2006-12-20 12:29:56 · answer #1 · answered by Daniel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My answer will probably be drowned out by all the other answers, but I'll give one anyway.
There is an interesting article in Notices of the American Mathematical Society on the shape of the spatial universe. The title is something like "The Poincare Dodecahedral Space and the Mystery of the Missing Fluctuations." The article discusses how we can attempt to get information about the shape of the universe by precisely measuring things like the microwave background radiation.
The (simply connected) possibilities are: 3-dim sphere, 3-dim Euclidean space, 3-dim upper half plane. These examples correspond to a positively curved, 0-curvature, and negatively curved spatial universe, respectively.
In general, the universe may turn out to be the quotient of any of the above spaces by a finite group.
The sense I got from the article is that we may be able to rule out certain possibilities with a more accurate measurement of microwave background radiation.
It would be very interesting if the universe turned out to be the quotient of one of the above spaces by a nontrivial group. This would imply that we should be able to find repetitions of images in the night sky if the universe is small enough.
2006-12-20 12:56:31 · answer #2 · answered by robert 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer to this is yes, and no. Some physicists theorize that the universe is finite, and has an end. Others disagree. If you throw in the possibilities in string theory of alternate dimensions, then it is indeed infinite.
Because cosmic inflation removes vast parts of the total universe from our observable horizon, most cosmologists accept that it is impossible to observe the whole continuum and may use the expression our universe, referring to only that which is knowable by human beings in particular. In cosmological terms, the universe is thought to be a finite or infinite space-time continuum in which all matter and energy exist. Some scientists hypothesize that the universe may be part of a system of many other universes, known as the multiverse.
2006-12-20 12:35:12 · answer #3 · answered by phantomlimb7 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, as an astrophysicst i can tell you that the Universe Does have a boundary...its NOT infinte...the problem is that its growing and expanding all the time! ever since the Big bang the universe has been expanding at a rate directly proportional to the distance ....so galaxies that are farther away from us seem to be moving away at faster rate than the ones near us..this is a scientific fact observed by Hubble and predicted by most cosmological models nowdays...
2006-12-20 12:37:05 · answer #4 · answered by Ramy E 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please tell us...in your mind what is the universe (spelled with a small "u".) ???
Before you can begin to understand the size of something, you must understand what that something is...
Are you talking about the Sun and the nine planets with moons of our Solar System?
Or, are you calling the Milky Way Galaxy (capital "G") our universe?
or do you mean all of everything that is out there all around us?
The Milky Way Galaxy consists of 1000 Billion stars like our Sun, each of which might have from 0 to 10 (or more) planets with associated moons circling around them.
Beyond our Milky Way Galaxy (Capital "G") there are thousands of other galaxies (small "g") with billions of stars, planets and moons in each one. The fartherest star of those is several thousands of light years away from the Earth. That distance is so far away from here that it is mind boggling to contemplate.
Why on earth would you be concerned about what is beyond that? It is so far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far away that you will never ever see it, not with the most powerful telescope ever constructed by man.
2006-12-21 12:06:43 · answer #5 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The universe DOES go on forever and ever. There is no real 1 answer to this question, because it is so big, we haven't gotten to the so called, "end", of it. I believe that the universe is the most powerful foce possible. God Bless!
2006-12-20 12:30:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 - 2001)
Rest In Peace, Mr. Adams. We miss you.
2006-12-20 12:38:39 · answer #7 · answered by chocolahoma 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Humans have not yet (and probably never will) develop the technology to determine the answer to your question.
A more interesting question, in my opinion is, if the universe is not infinite, what is out there besides the universe?
2006-12-20 12:31:54 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That we know of, no one on earth has really been to the ends of the universe yet, even if there is one. We can't know for sure whether or not there is an end to the universe-yet.
2006-12-20 12:31:08 · answer #9 · answered by nina_bear10 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Real big. It would take you 15 billion (approx) year traveling at the speed of light to get to the edge of the universe.
2006-12-20 12:30:03 · answer #10 · answered by RUDOLPH M 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's supposedly 156 Billion light years across.
2006-12-20 12:29:14 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋