Question about the size of the Universe?

Question

I know current scientific models say the Universe is still expanding. Are there any theories to explain what the Universe is expanding into? Or about the nature of this "space".

Also, do scientists have any idea where the center of the Universe is?

Answer 1

Well, the truth is that it will eventually expand into nothing. Picture the Universe as having no bounds whatsoever. The Universe is expanding out into a void; into utter nothingness. There is nothing to stop it. That said, there will come a time where this would not matter. As time goes by, stars burn out. Yes new stars are born, but one day there will be no nebulae left to bear new stars.

What we are left with eventually is a vast dead Universe that will just keep on expanding. The good news is that this point is so far into the future it is beyond comprehension.

Now, as for where the center is, define the center. I would have once said that it was the point of the Big Bang, but that theory is iffy. There are too many holes in it - I mean what existed before the Big Bang?

Some say another Universe existed, contracted into a Big Crunch and then Big Banged again. But if the Universe is expanding without slowing down as current research indicates, this seems unlikely. Look up something known as the Brane Theory. It's new, it's a bit over the head, but it just makes sense.

Picture the Universe as a sheet of paper, and consider many of these sheets. Picture the two colliding, creating hot spots of star birth. Over time, it all fizzles out as described above, but eventually the sheets will touch again and renews the process with added energy. That's part of the Brane Theory. So center of the Universe? Maybe none exist. But multiple hot spots where activity begins? Why not!

In order to begin to understand what little we know of the Universe, it is necessary to think outside the bounds of these three physical dimensions and that other obtuse time dimension. :) Our own space-time continuum may be only a fraction of the grand schematics of existence.

Answer 2

Few if any cosmogonists even consider such a question. Theories can't even be formulated because any theory requires at least some tiny shred of observational data to build on. In the case of a "what" the universe is expanding "into" there is no such data whatsoever. It's kind of like standing precisely at the North Pole and wondering what's farther north.

Personally I just try to imagine an infinite and absolute vacuum, totally without mass, energy, space-time or any thing else.

There are a number of concepts about our universe as being one of an infinity of other universes, or has having been spawned by some infinite "mother" universe, but these are little more than simple guesses. Even then, none of them answer the Big Question..."what" is everything moving into?

As for the "center of our universe," there is none. We're forced to assume that prior to the Big Bang there was no "thing" (..my infinite and absolute vacuum..). There was no energy, no mass, no space-time. At the instant of the Big Bang space-time first came into existence with the initial singularity. A singularity has no volume so it can be said then that the Big Bang happened everywhere at once, which equals no central point.

Answer 3

The universe is about 12 or 15 billion years old, so turn that into the rate of expansion from then to now. The center of the universe is the site of the Big Bang, where all our universe began to expand from.

Answer 4

here are a lot of ways to approach this question; here's one which is compatible with both modern physics and common sense. First, suppose the universe has some definite age, say 15 billion years. (I'm not claiming that's the case, but it's plausible). Then the farthest we can possibly see is 15 billion light years. Hubble telescope is actually theoretically capable of seeing a very bright light source even farther out, for instance 30 billion LYs. Unfortunately there hasn't been enough time for that light to reach us; it will only have travelled half the necessary distance (ignoring, if you don't mind, universe expansion). So there could very well be something out that far, but we'll have to wait 15 billion years to see it. Personally I imagine space, complete with galaxies, goes even farther: 100 billion LY, a trillion LY, who knows?

Perhaps after 100 billion LY (in some direction) our normal space stops and heaven begins, with God presiding over a choir of angels playing harps; or perhaps it's just a vacuum; or perhaps we're contained in something like a fish-bowl on a coffee table in the living room of incredibly huge lizard-like aliens; or perhaps space folds back on itself via some 4th dimension - there is absolutely no way of knowing, if you accept the speed of light and the age of the universe as limiting the scope of our knowledge to 15 billion LYs.

Now, if the question of what exists 100 billion LY out is unknowable and essentially meaningless, from the current scientific point of view, then the question whether it goes on to infinity is even more so.

... Does that help?

Answer 5

The universe is most likely expanding into well... more space. The space is probably just like all other space. Nothing.
And no scientists don't know where the center of the universe.

Answer 6

it is, you see because galaxies move away at a constant speed and distance. as per the universe, expanding into, well it is expanding into nothing. microwaves, that dot every inch of the universe distinguish it from nothing. these microwaves are left over from the big bang. scientists don't really know where the center is. Check these videos out, they have a lot of info on the universe.

Answer 7

well i say that the universe is expanding into nothing, the force of the expansion is great enough to expand nothing into nothing which actually creates somthing. i also think that if anything ever goes outside of our universe atoms will simply start to break down instantly because theories that survive in our universe do not work outside of our universe therfore the sme thing that is keeping the atoms together right now will fail and we will disinigrate into nothing.

the center of the universe is about 15 billion light years from the edge.

Answer 8

I'm not sure about the first question as only 1% of the universe has been mapped. But as to the question "where is the center of the universe" Thats easy. My wife is 100% sure its her.

Answer 9

The universe occupies space, it is expanding into the void.