The Univerese is constantly expanding...will it ever stop?

Question

Where is the Universe expanding to? If it can expand then there must be an end to it at some point? And if its expanding will there ever be a limit to how much it can expand?

Answer 1

first, in order to understand this... the big bang must be understanded.. here is some info on that. skip to the bottom if u already know...
There are many different theories people have thought up of for the creation of the universe:
ex: always there, came from nothingness, and more. Big bang= the most plausible theory.

What is the big bang?- the theory that says the universe began with a huge explosion about 13.7 billion years ago.

How do we know this? Universal expansion. Scientists have realized that the galaxies are moving apart. Scientists have also observed that it looks life all the galaxies are moving away from us. Does this mean we’re the center of the universe, or does it mean that aliens have seen the way we are destroying earth and want to get away as far as possible? As much as I like the second idea, neither are correct. To any galaxy you go to, if you observe, you will see all the galaxies moving away from you, as if you were the center.

A good example is the following-
Steps– 1. Draw dots on uninflated balloon.
2. Inflate, observe that each dot evenly retreat from each other. Each “galaxy” sees the same thing, galaxies moving away from them. There is no center, nor edge. The balloon surface is a 2d model of a 3d universe.

Now... how is the universe expanding? What is it like when its expanding? Well, it’s safe to say that the big bang is still happening. The universe is still expanding through the big bang, for on the outermost section of the universe, the terrific explosion is still occurring, forming our universe.

There are 6 layers of the universe- the furthest- big bang. 2nd furthest- radiation era. 3rd furthest- galaxies are forming. 4th furthest, there are many intergalactic clouds. The most distant quasars are here.
4th furthest- active galaxies, radio galaxies, and quasars are here. Now, our layer- a wall of galaxies, galaxy clusters, the Virgo Cluster, M31, and the Local Group.

“Glossary”- quasars- most distant known objects in the universe, the dazzling energetic cores of colliding galaxies, 12-14 billion light years from earth.
M31- Andromeda Galaxy
Radiation Era- begins 2-3 minutes to 300,000 years after the big bang- where space cooled enough for protons, neutrons, and elections to combine to form atoms. Now light and other formations can flow thru space without being absorbed by subatomic particles. The radiation still moves through space today, though weak.

If the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into?- try to avoid thinking of big bang as explosion, like its going into something. It wasn’t and explosion into space. It was a simultaneous creation and expansion OF space. Everything is inside. There is no understandable/perceivable outside.

What came before the big bang? Well, science implies that our universe is not the only one. We may be a speck in an infinite universe of universes w/ no beginning or end. The few billionths of seconds before the big bang, there was nothingness. Nothingness- an infinite vacuum- quantum fluctuation- virtual particles- “dance” into existence only to vanish back into the froth of the vacuum an instant later. Scientists think this happens in and out of our universe. I think the big bang happened because the vacuum sucked out on our tiny “universe molecule” and forced it to “explode” and create our universe. (But that’s just my opinion)

ok. now, when the big bang stops exploding, hypothetically, which we think it eventually will, the universe will be sucked back into its original supercondensed particle, only to explode again.

Answer 2

The universe as we know it in the current state, is changing. Lets say there was a big bang.. It was a huge catalyzed reaction where the matter composing the universe underwent a huge atomic reaction

Some say the universe is expanding like a rubber band..
Now you have two basic theories:
1) At some point it has to either contract again as the stretched rubber band and start the cycle over
or
2) the expansion effect was so strong that it cannot recover and it snaps.. Energy would ultimately disburse to a steady state which across the infintie would be essentially zero, all life would then cease and there would just be dots of rock in a vast open space...
Either way, this is probably a trillions of years cycle (but don't quote me on that..)

Answer 3

There are several schools of thought on this. As to there being a center, the universe is (according to theory) shaped like a double torrus. We exist in the space inside this torrus. all matter is moving outward from a central point (location of big bang) at tremendous speed. within the universe there exists matter, energy, and another theoretical substance called dark matter. It is believed to make up as much as 90% of the universes mass. Some theories indicate that the universe will continue expanding indefinitely and that the mass and matter in the universe is finite. This will eventually result in hydrogen atoms with the electrons orbiting at distances from the nucleus similar to the distance between our earth and the sun. At this point all life within the universe will have ceased to exisit because entropy has leveled out the distribution of energy within the universe and there will exsist no sufficient concentrations of energy for life to occur. Other theories state that the universe will expand to a certain point and then gravity will halt the expansion, the universe will then begin collapsing and enventually fall in on itself into a supermassive particle. Still other thories indicate that there may be locations within the universe where new matter is popping into existance from outside our universe. Essentially, what I am telling you is that we dont know but we are working on it.

Answer 4

The latest research indicates that the universe is not only expanding, but will do so at an increasing rate. The theory is that there is this so-called dark energy that opposes gravity. gravity is the stronger force when it comes to objects up to the size of a galactical cluster. Anything larger than that and dark energy pushes everything apart.

Since the expansion is increasing, there is no limit on how large the universe can get.

Answer 5

The universe might not be expanding. Thats simply a theory which is supported by the red shift bias among all the objects visible. It is possibe, however, that the doppler effect is caused by something else we do not yet understand.
In order to determine if the universe will stop expanding, one would have to know 1) how much kinetic force is behind its expansion and 2) how much resistence whatever 'medium' it is expanding within is offering to counter this force. Obviously 2) suggests that the universe is not all there is.

Answer 6

It depends. THere are several theories around. ONe says that it will keep expanding untill one atom of matter is so far away from another that the universe is no longer able to sustain itself, and it falls apart in the 'big rip'.

Another is that it will expand, stop, and then shrink back into a singularity (what it was before the big bang). This is known as the big crunch, or the gib gnab (big bang backwards).

Another theory states that it will just go on forever, whilst another says eventually we will expand INTO another universe, and become part of a mega-universe, as it was.

So, it all depends on which theory you like best, really.

Answer 7

The Universe will continue to expand more rapidly until all of the galaxies are too far away for even light to make it across, then it will continue to expand until only individual stars are left, and it will continue to expand so fast that even individual atoms can't hold together and they are ripped apart and it will continue to expand until only individual quarks are left, each alone, so far away from each other that even gravity can no longer interact between them, and the Universe will keep expanding until it is a cold dead nothingness.

Have a nice day.

Answer 8

Scientists don't know whether the universe is an 'open' universe i.e. it will continue to expand for eternity, or whether the combined gravitational forces of all the matter in the universe is sufficient to slow down the expansion, and the universe will start to get smaller (a closed universe) and the 'Big Crunch' will occur!

Answer 9

You know, this Universe thing always gets me mad.
Imagine. Some people say the Universe has no end.
If it has NO end, how come it's expanding?
And if it has, what's after it?
So, in my opinion, this subject is so complex that I prefer to turn on the TV and make good laughs!

Answer 10

Horcrux - fantastic answer, but on your last point...

As I understand it, the universe's expansion is on a knife-edge as to whether it will continue to expand, due to dark energy opposing gravity, or will eventually succumb to its own gravity and collapse into a "big crunch".

Recent research seems to indicate that it will continue to expand (becoming colder and more inhospitable to life) indefinitely.