http://www.space.com/universe/
2007-01-22 19:22:19 · 4 answers · asked by ? 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
It's because there are more stars, densely packed, on one plane, which suggests the universe is flat. The milky way is a good example. That dense line of stars that makes a line across the sky? that's looking through the solar system's flat edge.
It is a bit more complicated with radio wave movement, red shift, and this and that. But boiled down, it's the density...
2007-01-22 20:42:32 · answer #1 · answered by Theresa A 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don' mess this up with the outdated of a flat earth. A flat universe does not mean that all stars are located near a plane in a 3-Dimensional way.
Flattness refers to a 4D-pespective meaning that thing go on as usual for ever. The other possibilities woudl be round or saddle shaped. THe first means that the univers will expand faster and faster until there is nothing left having distributed a limited number of matter over an unlimited space (imagine all planets roling off a curved surface), the latter meaning that everything will after all expension is done start coming togehter again in a "Big Crunch" (imagin all matter rolling from the edges of the saddle into the center.
I hope I got it right and did not mix the two alternatives. But I hope you got an idea!
2007-01-23 06:29:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our Universe is pretty flat: The cosmic microwave background is the relic of Big Bang thermal radiation, cooled to the temperature of 2.73° Kelvin. But it didn't cool perfectly smoothly, and after the radiation cooled, there were some lumps left over. The angular size of those lumps as observed from our present location in spacetime depends on the spatial curvature of the Universe. The currently observed lumpiness in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background is just right for a flat Universe that expands forever.
2007-01-23 03:38:07 · answer #3 · answered by hauntedheart25 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
some theorists say it isn't flat, but saddle shaped or flat with a bulging centre. Does that throw a spanner in the works?
2007-01-23 05:52:52 · answer #4 · answered by mr_wobbly2001 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋