If the universe is expanding, wont the galaxies that have been around since creation or the big bang just stay where they were as the universe expands into nothingness?
Quote from 'Dead Famous - Albert Einstein and his inflatable universe' -
"2. Although spacewent on for ever in all directions, the stars petered out after a few zillion miles. As Albert put it: 'The stellar Universe ought to be a finite island in the infinite ocean of space.' But Albert didn't like 2 either. He decided that over very long periods of time, the stars would drift away from one another. Because the Universe was supposed to have been knocking about for ever, there shouldn't be any stars left to see - they should all have drifted out of sight by now."
The Dead Famous, Horrible Science, Horrible Histories and Horrible Geography series are excellent and I encourage everyone around my age (12) to read them :)
2007-02-20 23:07:45 · 5 answers · asked by Jason 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Galaxies weren't actually formed in the Big Bang. The matter that they consist of was released in the Big Bang. It took millions of years for this matter to coalesce into galaxies.
Try to think of the Universe in the following way. Picture an uninflated balloon, now draw little dots on that balloon. When the balloon is inflated, all of those dots "move" away from each other. The Universe is similar to the surface of the balloon. Everything is always moving away from everything else.
2007-02-20 23:46:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anthony Stark 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Einstein knew from his equations that the universe could not be static. This meant it was either contracting or expanding.
Where he was wrong was in assuming it has been around for ever. In fact, it is but a few billion years old. Far too short a time for all the stars to disappear into the distance.
2007-02-21 07:22:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
All scientists nowadays accept the premise that the universe is expanding. As a matter of fact, this theory has not been questioned since the first decade of the 20th century.
2007-02-21 07:20:11 · answer #3 · answered by Dennis J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They base that theory on the doppler effect but we have no way of truely knowing how light would be effected after traveling such long distances. It is mainly the scientists best guess in practice.
2007-02-21 07:18:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think we need to understand what the universe really is, before answering that question.
2007-02-21 07:12:27 · answer #5 · answered by The Filosophers 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋