2007-07-01 10:42:18 · 23 answers · asked by Quickfix008(∞Cicci∞) 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
if it is & one could reach the edge what do you think lies beyond ?
2007-07-01 10:48:13 · update #1
not to me. it is infinite. a void with no starting time and no ending time. no boundary's. it is forever. seems impossible but it apparently isn't. no time, just one awful lot of space. our minds cannot fathom the magnitude of it. however, i am just a layman with nothing but my own theory. i just look up and think about it. good as any.
2007-07-01 11:12:58 · answer #1 · answered by oldtimer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is one of the most baffling thoughts you're likely to come across.
Try this little mind game using you minds eye.
1. Picture the earth.
2. Picture the earth-moon system.
3. Picture the Sun and solar system.
4. Picture the milky way galaxy.
5. Picture the local cluster of galaxies.
6. Picture the whole universe.
For you minds eye to form the pictures 1 through 5 all you had to do was move away from the object you wanted to picture.
However you can't do that for picture 6 because you would be putting yourself outside the universe, which of course is impossible to do. Nothing exists outside the universe.
No matter, no energy, no space, no time - NOTHING.
Einstein showed, in his relativity papers of 1905 and 1916, that time is the fourth dimension - intimately woven in with the other three (L, H, W).
We know the the universe is expanding, meaning 4 dimensional space is expanding.
The question "what is space expanding into" is meaningless because there is NOTHING beyond it for it to expand into.
There is nowhere you can go in the universe to see beyond the edge of the universe because there is no edge. Where ever you go in the universe (and you can never go anywhere else) you will always be able to see 13.7 billion light years in every direction (4*pi steradians as Uncle Al said).
No matter how fast it is expanding, it has not been expanding an infinite length of time so it cannot be infinite in extent.
That only leaves - finite.
At this point we all need to take two aspirin and go to bed.
2007-07-06 03:01:44 · answer #2 · answered by jimschem 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its finite. i think people should stop saying that the universe is infinite specially after the proofs of the big bang. People get back to two centuries before by saing that universe is infinite. Thats an old idea now. Where you guys are living. Universe came into being some 15 billion years ago, and it is still expanding. But natural it will have ends. It is also finite as far as the time dimension is concerned.
2007-07-01 20:01:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The universe is definitely finite.
It had a minimum size so it must have a maximum size.
It expands radially into nothing so it's finiteness must be due a diminishing spacial density that will eventually reach a minimum and go out of existence.
2007-07-02 09:33:31 · answer #4 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ad infinitum or infinite. Measurement made through any research is not true because human eyesight or the power of their invention are limited. There are a lot of things beyond human vision. Always remember this " Nothing is perfect in this world ". If there is someone perfect, then he or she would be equal to the Creator.
2007-07-02 09:58:06 · answer #5 · answered by Ragnarok 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but it is a fabric that is expanding. There is an infinite amount of space that it is expanding into. It all depends on what the fate of the expanding universe is, will it fall back on itself or will it spread and cool down? Either way it will have an end, or a new beginning.
2007-07-01 17:47:30 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The universe is finite but unbounded. If you wonder how this could be, think of the surface of the earth, which is finite but has no boundry.
2007-07-02 00:36:14 · answer #7 · answered by steve b 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most scientist believe the universe has overlapped on top of it's self so if you went straight long enough you'd end up back where you started from.
2007-07-07 21:48:22 · answer #8 · answered by inuyashadbz13 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
is energy finite? does energy die?
how do you know?
what is at the end of the universe? perhaps the reflection or for want of a better word and pun intended--the inverse
2007-07-01 17:53:27 · answer #9 · answered by rwl_is_taken 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've heard so much garbage about light years and the big bang. The bottom line is that no one knows except God and anyone human who claims to know is an idiot. We can have lots of fun speculating, with that in mind many of the world's top scientist must be having a blast. No human knows and no human will ever know while in this life.
2007-07-01 22:26:57 · answer #10 · answered by Last Man Standing 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋