everyone says that space is never ending. also people say that space is expanding. well if its expanding what is it expanding into if its neverending?
2007-06-04 05:20:35 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Space is constantly expanding. Where a given galaxy was when you wrote your question is where it is now. For one thing, this means that no matter which galaxy we are talking about, virtually all of the other galaxies are moving away from that galaxy. The universe has no "edge" as such. It also means that the galaxies are not moving away through space, they are moving away with space (with space being created between them), as space itself expands. Think of a loaf of unbaked raisin bread you've set in a warm place to rise. The raisins are like galaxies or clusters of galaxies, and the dough, space. As the dough rises, the raisins move farther apart, but they've moved with the dough as the dough expended, not through the dough.
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Cosmos/ExpandUni.html
2007-06-04 05:29:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
this is as much a philosophical question as it is a science/astronomy question.
there are competing theories about this and none of them can be proven experimentally. we can observe and conjecture and try to find mathematics that appear to support our conjectures but proof is non-existent. It is a matter of faith as much as anything else.
remember that any starlight you see is not the way it is now, but that you are looking into the past. by the time the light reaches earth from the nearest star (that is not our Sun) an incredible amount of time has passed while the light traveled to reach earth and the star may not even exist in 'current' time but our observation of it may continue unchanged for centuries.
stars/galaxies/etc do move, relative to each other.
IF space is expanding then the stars/galaxies/etc are moving with space, probably in addition to through space, making any measurement/theories that much more complicated.
i personally believe (and this is a belief, not a fact) that space does have an end and that there is a force outside of our limited understanding that defines that end and the movements of things within space. while saying that there is an end, i do not discount the possibility that that end is not fixed and that it may change over what we call time, or even that at some point space will loop back upon itself and it would occur in such a way so that to those within it may not even be able to detect it or if it is detectable, it may appear to be not-looped as the distances could be greater than we are able to observe/measure. think of an enormous mobius strip.
there are edges/boundaries, beginnings and ends, but if you were located near the center and the strip were wide enough and forces pushed/pulled/allowed observation only lengthwise, you would seem to be in an infinite space.
2007-06-04 06:10:43 · answer #2 · answered by Act D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Scientists can measure and prove that all celestial bodies move away from each other, judging from the redshift phenomenon - color shift of light due to increasing wavelength when the source and observer move away from each other.
So, as we know things are moving away from each other, we can say that the universe is expanding - though no one knows for sure where it is expanding into.
There are some theories stating that, due to the multi-dimensional nature of the universe, there is not a real "edge" to it and someone who starts to travel in a direction would end up returning to the point he started, like in a Moebius Strip.
2007-06-04 05:57:27 · answer #3 · answered by Murat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hmmm yeh thats what i think and i guess we'll never really know its like a vast vacum thats too big to probably ever find out whats the other side. Thats why people kinda have their own theories, i get really confused when i think about space and the universe because weere all so small in comparison.
Buy yeh if it is expanding then i guess there must be something the other side for it to expand into,
2007-06-04 05:25:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Such technical answers. So little life to read them
Expanding universe is like inflating a balloon. If you are an ant living on a balloon surface, you can go round and round but will never reach its end, although next time you go around, it will take you more time to come back to your starting location which will prove to you that the your universe (balloon) has expanded
2007-06-04 06:53:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Space is infinite because it's ever expanding...oh and it's not expanding into anything it's just expanding.
2007-06-04 05:28:26 · answer #6 · answered by saosin 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, that seems to be a logical question, but really what does it matter? If one doesn't have the capability to get there, wherever there is, it is just a concept, with no effect on daily life; unless you're an astrophysicist or something and find those conjectures interesting.
2007-06-04 05:31:13 · answer #7 · answered by LodiTX 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
mhhh intersting analysis... but I would rather stick to the world I know. I don't even believe that stars exist. I think they are dust particles that rise high during the day and reflect the sun just like the moon does at night
2007-06-04 05:24:56 · answer #8 · answered by bbett 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Infinity. Pure, simple, uncomplicated infinity.
2007-06-04 06:05:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everybody, sooner or later, has to accept that there is reality even beyond the imagination.
2007-06-04 05:24:38 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋